From: James Binder <jbinder@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.motss
Date: 07 Sep 92 19:54 PDT
Subject: PRESENTATION:GAY RIGHTS/LATIN AMER
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1475900060:000:3613
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!jbinder    Sep  7 19:54:00 1992


From: James Binder <jbinder>
Subject: PRESENTATION:GAY RIGHTS/LATIN AMER

/* Written  7:53 pm  Sep  7, 1992 by jbinder in cdp:queerplanet */
/* ---------- "PRESENTATION:GAY RIGHTS/LATIN AMER" ---------- */

Announcement from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights
Commission
(IGLHRC)
September 5, 1992

Presentation to Focus on Gay Rights in Latin America September 12
and 13 in Los Angeles, California

Recent victories and setbacks in the struggle for lesbian and gay
rights in Latin America will be the focus of a presentation by
Enrique Asis, Latin American Coordinator of the International Gay
and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC).  The Commission, a
San Francisco-based organization promoting the rights of lesbians
and gay men worldwide, has mobilized protests against a wave of
anti-gay murders in Mexico and a new anti-sodomy law in Nicaragua,
successfully fought for legal recognition of the first gay
organization in Argentina, and supported the documentation of
homophobic violence in Brazil.

Enrique Asis will have an informal meeting with activists and AIDS
groups on Saturday, September 12 at 1405 Golden Gate Ave., Los
Angeles at 5:00 pm (one block south of Sunset Blvd. and one block
west of Micheltorena), and again on Sunday, September 13 at 5:30
PM in the third-floor community room of the Santa Monica Place
Mall.  His presentations will focus on the following IGLHRC
campaigns:

MEXICO:  A dozen gay men were assassinated in Chiapas in the past
year.  Three gay men, including the president of an AIDS
organization, were murdered in Mexico City this summer, and
anti-gay violence has also claimed lives in Oaxaca and
Guadalajara.  IGLHRC has mobilized protests in front of Mexican
embassies the U.S. and Europe to demand government action.

NICARAGUA:  On July 8, President Violeta Chamorro signed into law
a new penal code that includes Latin AmericaUs most repressive
anti-sodomy law.  Protests have been mobilized in front of
embassies and consulates, and a challenge of the law is planned in
the Nicaraguan Supreme Court.

COLOMBIA/ECUADOR:  In both countries, paramilitary death squads
have carried out assassinations against gay men:  more than 300
were murdered in Colombia between 1986 and 1990, and 100 killed in
Ecuador since 1987.  A delegation of American human-rights lawyers
investigated the Bogot murders and brought them to the attention
of the government.

BRAZIL:  At least 1200 gay men and lesbians have been murdered in
the past decade, some by street hustlers and others by
paramilitary organizations.  Murders are rarely brought to trial,
and, when convicted, receive light sentences.  IGLHRC has
commissioned a report on anti-gay violence in Brazil, in an
attempt to mobilize international pressure against government
complacence.

CHILE:  In November, representatives from gay and lesbian
organizations throughout South America will meet in Santiago in a
gathering sponsored by Comit de Servicio Chileno-Cuaquero, the
Chilean branch of the American Friends Service Committee.  AFSC
and IGLHRC are now campaigning to overturn the countryUs rarely
enforced anti-sodomy law.

ARGENTINA:  Last spring, IGLHRC succeeded in pressuring the
government to recognize the countryUs first gay organization.
Since then, Argentina has had its first gay pride week, a
phenomenal success that included a march, a gay rights forum, a
film festival, and an exhibit of AIDS education materials from
around the world.

For More Information contact:  Victor Ontiveros LA RED
(213)913-9076/660-3566 Enrique Asis       IGLHRC
(415)255-8680/281-0763 email : jbinder@igc.org