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Acceptance of homosexuality divides the world
Posted by Administrator
MEXICO CITY -- Although in recent years the world has progressed with regard to “sexual democratization,” more than 70 countries, most of them in Asia and Africa, continue to punish homosexual acts with imprisonment. Yemen, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Iran have legal codes that provide the death sentence for homosexuality.
Whereas in Latin America most Spanish-speaking countries have eliminated any legal provision that goes against gay or lesbian status, homophobia continues to prevail in the Caribbean.
In South Africa, black lesbians are sometimes raped or even murdered, according to experts.
“Although there have been important steps forward in the sensitization of governments, and sexuality is increasingly a constant in U.N. discussions, the challenge faced by those of us who fight to decriminalize the homosexual condition, is great,” Gloria Careaga, joint secretary-general of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), told the German Press Agency dpa.
In 2009 an ILGA report charged that Lesotho, Belize, Swaziland and Trinidad and Tobago forbade people who belong to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from entering the country.
The Netherlands, one of the world's most open and tolerant societies, has seen a regression. Reports have emerged of homophobic attacks by neo-Nazi groups.
Paradoxically, in Brazil, where the government sponsors a national plan against homophobia and also promotes sexual diversity, there is a high rate of murder of transsexuals.
According to Careaga, who is Mexican and whose profession is social psychologist, the recent coup d'etat in Honduras unleashed persecution of LGBT activists.
“Even after the elections, under a new government, 19 gay and transsexual persons were assassinated in less than three months. A lesbian has been the victim of strong attacks and none of this has been investigated or punished,” she said.
In societies in which there is no equality between men and women it is also very difficult that the rights of lesbians, homosexuals, bisexuals and others whose sexual orientation is different, be recognized, said Renato Sabbadini, from Italy, joint secretary-general of ILGA, in an interview with dpa.
One of the greatest victories achieved by gay activists was in 2008 when, in the United Nations General Assembly, 66 nations, among them nearly all Latin American countries, signed a declaration against homosexuality being considered a crime.
Since then, and to date, the ILGA report “State Homophobia” found that there are 115 countries in the world in which sexual relations between persons of the same sex are legal. Belgium, South Africa, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Canada allow homosexuals to marry. In all of these countries, and in addition in Israel, Andorra, Iceland and Great Britain, homosexuals can adopt children, although these latter four do not permit same-sex marriages.
In December 2009, Argentina carried out the first gay marriage in South America. Shortly afterwards the local Mexico City Legislative Assembly authorized same-sex marriages and adoption, a measure that entered into effect on March 4, 2010.
The legality of same-sex marriages in the Mexican capital is being questioned by the conservative federal government of President Felipe Calderon through what is known as a constitutional challenge, filed with the Supreme Court by the Attorney General's Office.
Adoption is also legal in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in some parts of Australia, in most Canadian provinces and in some U.S. states. Nepal has also been discussing a reform bill to legalize same-sex marriages.
According to Fernando D'Elio, of the Program for Latin America and the Caribbean of the International Commission of Human Rights for Gays and Lesbians, Latin America is moving forward slowly toward sexual democratization, and civil society has played a key role.
In the case of Mexico City, Careaga said, the move “not only granted couples the same rights, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity, it also broke with the traditional viewpoints on family, couples and demands a reorganization of the social structure.”
Conservative groups and religious fundamentalists are stridently opposed to the changes.
The latest events recognizing sexual diversity have led the Vatican to demand of Catholic politicians and governments that they oppose “immoral” acts that are contradictory to divine order.
Right-wing groups and above all the Church “must come to terms with a reality that has always existed and will always exist, inherent to human beings, and as such which must be accepted and respected,” D'Elio said.
Researchers say that what is needed to progress in recognizing sexual diversity in Latin America and in the rest of the world is education, information, political interest, a reaffirmation of laicism, and above all accepting that members of the LGBT community have rights just like all other citizens.
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