Gay Rights and the local media

Last week meant a lot to many of us who live in Valencia, it felt like a breath of fresh air. First, a fact that affects the LGBT community worldwide, the adoption of resolution L.9 Rev 1 by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and secondly, the first ever gay pride parade in the third largest city of Venezuela.

The UN resolution is an important legal precedent in the struggle of the community to reclaim our rights, historically denied to us by religious prejudice, despite great advances achieved in Latin America. The bloc of countries who voted against the resolution are places where the secular state is non-existant and controlled by the religious power.

Religious freedom is sacred as the freedom we all have to love who we choose to, without distinction to prevail in the decision. The term marriage should be rewritten in our society, since the dawn of history this word has been associated with a religious rite, pertaining to the union of couples based on reproduction purposes with a strong emphasis  in ethnic group survival.

In the United States, the LGBT movement faced this dilemma while lobbying for our rights and came out the possibility of civil unions for same-sex couples, without the name of “marriage”. Civil unions provides rights of those who adopt it, not without a discriminatory tinge, since it would create two types of citizens based on legal definition.

On Saturday June 25, was held in Valencia the first gay pride parade ever, numerically discrete in numbers,  but full of significance for being my hometown an extremely conservative city. Most disappointing was the coverage of the event by local newspaper El Carabobeño, in its online edition on 26 June, did not mention it was a gay pride march.

Today, as we celebrate in Venezuela journalist's day, i wonder at what point the editorial line of a newspaper must be independent of the guidelines of power? In journalism school i was  taught my functions would be: to inform, to educate and to persuade. I find it abominable that other uneventful news prevailed upon the need to inform over the dignity of an important group of constituents.

I can only keep fighting for the rights of all my fellow homosexuals without distinction and against hidden agendas aiming to take away the trascendence of a movement which basically seeks to dignify our existance as "human beings".

Failed Promises

At a year and a half to the presidential elections in Venezuela, both ruling and opposition parties have obviated any topic related to gay constituents. Topics such as: gay marriage, reproductive freedom legislation, adoption, among others; occupy the top priorities in the expectations of the venezuelan gay community, seeking for inclusion and equality in the country.

Double standards of lawmakers in Venezuela was shown this year with a new and "different" parliament, when they reversed an initiative to legalize civil unions. Instead they voted a bill draft on gender equality, a quote by Marelis Perez, venezuelan lawmaker "... establishes respect for those who have a sex choice to protect their human rights, call for non-discrimination, but does not give legitimacy to homosexual marriage, that is not the purpose of this law. "

So my question would be , what is the intention to brag about social inclusion? The inclusion speech fell short at times to fulfill Chavez's promises to the gay constituency, as a proof of his lack of commitment to universal human rights by a presumably analysis of a mere electoral calculation.

The Venezuelan political opposition has its share in the blame of the gay community reversal, with close ties to the church, their historical social conservative record and obviously the same fear of electoral calculation, places them as pasive observers of the abominable outrage against human rights in the country.

Dear concerned citizen, we have no other option but to keep fighting for the long-awaited demands of the gay community in Venezuela and having the fateful role of being second-class citizens being left in the past. We must demand all issues that affect us to be included in the political agendas of the "establishment".

Happy International Day Against Homophobia

Yesterday, most part of the world was celebrating the international day against homophobia and transphobia, but as usual event in Venezuela where everything is delayed 30 minutes by presidential decree or because an entire country revolves counterclockwise, back to the stone age.

Despite the heavy rain falling the whole day in my beloved Valencia, I had nothing else to do but to visit a dear friend. The early evening was very pleasant along with the presence of two friends, one of them happened to have lots of passion for photography.

Three hours later, it was time to leave, taking the two kids for a ride me throughout the "green paths" Agua Blanca and Prebo. The conversation was very pleasant, characterized by a heated discussion and hand gestures in the order of the day.

Taking a U-turn at the northestearn corner of Prebo Shopping Center, I parked close enough to drop them and staying inside of the car for closing statements. At 6 pm two agents from the political police out of nowhere approached us, face covered and at gun point, shouting at us to get out of the car.

Many thoughts went through my mind, especially the denial of what it was happening, as something surreal. While knowing the danger of being stopped by corrupt police force, who could even fake incriminating evidence findings, without remorse nor anyone who could stop them.

Circumstances made me nervous and cry for honesty and decency. One of the police forced me to get my hands on the car while the other would do the same. The agents with an aggressive tone of voice asked us about our occupations, as i replied I was a freelance journalist.

Fortunately, one of the “kids” worked in a local TV station and pulled out his work ID, suddenly the aggression level lowered, but still the other officer frisk his bag, as if there were weapons or drugs. At that point the offices were not aiming their weapons at us, under the pretence of being part of the press.

Another theory would be that we were gays and decided to harrass us to make us feel uncomfortable, they asked where we lived and our business in the area. Then their arguments were aiming to justify their action by an obvious sexual orientation bias.

Part of their excuses for their excessive force was the fight against crime, then they took off their masks and replicated we should be thankful for having a security force taking care of our safety. I asked What would have happened if by any chance their weapons fired unintentionally? 

Decent citizens without any indication of suspicious behavior. I cry out loud for freedom and tolerance.

I do!!!! in pink

In the 21st century, several nations around the world cry out for tolerance and the creation of legal spaces to ensure the "inclusion" of minorities, thus ending the possibility that at least in the legal framework the existance of second-class citizens.

When I heard what happened during last month in Choroní, Aragua state, where a group of gay men were attacked by representatives of a local community council, in addition with intimidation and coercion by the state police, the news made me feel angry and excluded from the social fabric called Venezuela.

The struggle for gender rights and sexual orientation are culturally linked in Latin American societies by the ghost of the "machismo", monstrosity of a social nature that deprives of any leading role to all those people who do not possess a male reproductive organ or do not use it, for the systematic destruction of illusions to their female peers while mating.

Among the reasons for the Aragua police to intimidate and suppress the rights of the homosexuals who were vacationing at the resort, were indecency in public places and raising the rainbow flag with the word "peace" written in it. Both arguments seemed absurd as grounds to proceed.

The meaning of the rainbow flag used by the gay movement in favor of equal rights, comes from respect and love to diversity as source of inspiration to a more tolerant society. Value that has been echoed during the civil rights struggle of the african-american community, as well as the battle of feminism to occupy political spaces that rightfully belong to it. 

Venezuela's future should be built on solid foundations with tolerance and diversity as cornerstone values and let morality being dictated by the individual conscience of each of us. Vindications in the field of equal rights by nations like Argentina and Uruguay in the discussion of defining marriage, are examples to follow if you really believe in a better “inclusive” world.