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LGBT in Colombia
The initialism LGBT is used to refer collectively to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) people and members of the specific group and to the community (subculture) that surrounds them. This can include rights advocates, artists, authors, etc.
The LGBT community in Colombia, like in most Latin American countries is often subject of controversy regarding acceptance due to the prevalence of heterosexism and machismo or male chauvinism in the latino culture.
Statistics
There are no complete statistical studies on the number of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered people in Colombia. Some research of the National Department of Statistics indicate that in the capital Bogota, there are a rough estimate of 219,520 predominantly gay men and 615,000 men who have sex with men (MSMs). The numbers for women vary between 48,000 and 96,000. About 64% of the general population says they have issues with LGBT people (homophobia). An extrapolation to the entire country's population estimates nearly a million gay men, 2.5 million MSMs and 350,000 lesbians.
LGBT History
1513: Spanish conquistador Vasco Nunez de Balboa killed a group of native Americans with his dogs near the Darien Gap, who were said to be homosexuals.
1514: One of the first books written about the Americas, Historia General y Natural de las Indias reports that homosexuality was fairly common in the territory of what is today Colombia
1610: The opening of the Spanish inquisition tribunal in Cartagena. The tribunal has autonomy to apply the death penalty in cases of sodomy.
19th and early 20th centuries: Treatments supposed to cure homosexuality were applied, such as electroshock, hormones and monkey testicle xenotransplantation.
1970s: In Medellin, a group of gay men led by Leon Zuleta started the first Colombian gay association (Zuleta was killed due to related causes in 1993)
1974: The American Psychiatric Association removed the homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, (DSM), its list of mental diseases. The national government, however did not adopt this standard and still classified homosexuality as a mental illness in the national disease codification CIE for several more years.
1981: Homosexuality is declared legal by the Colombian government.
1982: The first gay pride parade was celebrated in Bogota, with about 32 people marching. A contingent of nearly a hundred policemen were sent for crowd control.
1983: The first official reports of AIDS-related deaths in Colombia
1986-1989: Groups of illegal anti-gay social cleansing were formed around the country to take actions against the LGBT community. The media reported a rising bigotry and about 640 related murders during this period. Some groups that attributed themselves the crimes were "Manonegra" (black hand), "Amor a Medellin" (love to Medellin), "Amor a Manizales" (love to Manizales) and "muerte a HOMOSEXUALES" (death to homosexuals).
1990: Manuel Velandia promoted the recognition of equal rights for HIV/AIDS-infected people.
1991-1994: Reports of the media about several episodes of gay bashing against people leaving places suspected of being gay nightclubs in Bogota, who were stripped, soaked with cold water and left in the top of Monserrate hill.
1994: The first support groups for HIV/AIDS were created.
1996: The first organized lesbian groups were created.
1999: Psychologist Marina Talero created the first support groups for transgendered people.
During the early 2000s, the Colombian lawyer and LGBT Activist German Perfetti won legal actions for the achievement of important issues such as: social security for same-sex couples, the right to work for gay teachers, protection against unjustified job loss for LGBTrelated causes, and the right to legal name change for transgendered people.
2000: The first National LGBT Convention was celebrated in Bogota.
2001: Creation of Planeta Paz (the Planet Peace Project) for bisexual visibility.
7 February 2007: Colombian Constitutional Court recognizes proprietary equity (inheritance) rights for same-sex couples having lived together for more than 2 years and registered as a union in a public notary court.
March 2007: The president of the Catholic Bishop council, Pedro Rubiano, together with other ecclesiastic authorities, made press statements against the recognition of same-sex couples by the national government.
June 2007: The Colombian Congress, in the final stage of recognition of same-sex couples, decided to discard the project
5 October 2007: The Colombian Constitutional Court decrees that same-sex couples registered as a couple in a public notary must to be granted the same social security (health care) benefits as those given to heterosexual couples
12 November 2007: The LGBT community center of chapinero is closed due to bureaucratic issuess and lack of funds
December 2007: Armed illegal groups (presumably The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia) announce rewards of one million pesos (about 500 dollars) for each murdered transvestite
Organizations
There is about 20 registered LGBT Organizations in Colombia. Among others:
Colombia Diversa Organization
Lesbian Organizations: Triangulo Negro ( Black Triangle) , Lesbic Collective and Mujeres al Borde ( Women to the Edge)
Lambda project: HIV/AIDS- related
Events
SUNGAY Party is a charity event to raise funds for LGBT-related projects.
Gay Pride Day: 28 June, with parades in the main cities of the country.
Gay villages
Most of the LGBT-friendly places in Bogota are concentrated in the Chapinero area, including the only LGBT Community Center in the country, which opened in September 2006, and is sponsored by the Office of the Mayor of Bogota.. See also Zona Rosa de Bogota.
Literature
Fernando Vallejo: Our Lady of the Assassins (novel) (also adapted to film), El Desbarrancadero (The Precipice), El Rio del Tiempo (River of Time), Los Caminos a Roma (Roads to Rome) among others.
Porfirio Barba-Jacob
Alonso Sanchez Baute: Al Diablo la Maldita Primavera (To Hell with the Goddamn Spring). (also adapted to theater)
Luis Fayad: Los parientes de Esther (Esther's relatives)
Tomas Gonzalez: Primero estaba el mar (The sea was first)
Ruben Velez: Veinticinco centimetros (25 centimetres), dec. 1997 published by W. C. Editores
Media
EL OTRO (1970)published by Leon Zuleta was the first gay publication released in a regular basis in the country.
Planeta Informa
Indetectable
RUMBAG portal
Nemesis times magazine
Nightclubs
Theatron: Located in Bogota, is considered the largest gay nightclub in Latin America
Medellin nightclubs: Feathers-Splash
Resources
Colombian-ito: On-line guide to gay resources all over the country
Guia Cereza
External Links
[Mujeres Al Borde, Women on the Edge http://www.mujeresalborde.org/] in Spanish.
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article LGBT in Colombia
