Guatemala, Central America

Homosexual acts between consenting men over the age of eighteen are legal in Guatemala. Even so, discrimination and hate crimes go unpunished, especially crimes towards the Transgenger community. As with many Latin American countries a macho attitude prevails with deep rooted homophobia. There is state harassment of the LGBT community. There are occasional reports of killings of gay activists for example in 1997 transgendered Aids Activist Luis Palencia was gunned down in Guatemala City. The police have also been implicated in a series of anti-gay murders. Given all this there is a surprisingly large gay scene in Guatemala City with several bars clubs, a sauna and even a sex club. Since 2000 there have been annual Gay Pride Marches.

 

 

Being gay in Guatemala is ‘a political issue’

Aldo Davila took office this month as Guatemala’s first ever openly gay member of parliament. He spoke to DW about this historic moment in a country where homophobia is still rampant. Guatemala’s Aldo Davila has been interested in politics since he was a teenager. He has always empathized with those struggling in Guatemala’s unequal and… Read more »

Interview-Guatemala’s first openly gay congressman braces for battle

Guatemala’s first openly gay congressman Aldo Davila was only elected two months ago and has yet to take up his seat, but death threats have already stopped him walking the streets of his own city. “People have written messages, ‘You want get to Congress on January 14th, you will die before’,” said the 41-year-old veteran… Read more »

Guatemala Elects First Openly Gay Congressman

Guatemala has elected its first openly gay congressman. According to the AP, Aldo Iván Dávila Morales, who is living with HIV, will take his seat in Guatemala’s congress in January. He will represent a Guatemala City district. “I’m happy, with a lot of mixed feelings,” the 41-year-old Dávila told the outlet. “The worry is I’m… Read more »

An incredible court ruling just ordered 16 countries to make same-sex marriage legal

A landmark court ruling has ordered 16 new countries to make same-sex marriage legal. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights reached a decision today on a marriage equality petition submitted two years ago by Costa Rica President Luis Guillermo Solis. 20 countries agreed to follow the court’s rulings when they signed the American Convention on… Read more »

Guatemala says no to gay marriage

Otto Pérez Molina, president of Guatemala, says he is opposed to gay marriage, ahead of a discussion on the matter by the Organization of American States Guatemala’s president Otto Pérez Molina said that his country is not in favor of gay marriage and abortion, two issues that will be discussed in the General Assembly of… Read more »

USAID launches partnership to promote LGBT rights

The U.S. Agency for International Development on Monday unveiled a public-private partnership designed to promote LGBT rights around the world. USAID will work with the Swedish International Development Corporation Agency, the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Institute, the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law and Olivia Companies on… Read more »

Guatemalan transgender woman lives in 2 worlds

Dressed as a man, the sixth-grade teacher leaves school and walks several blocks through a dangerous red-light district overrun with gangs and crack dealers. Arriving at a friend’s home, a transformation begins. Off come wide-leg jeans, T-shirt and a baseball cap that hides long hair. After an extensive, two-hour makeup session, Linda Elizabeth Tylor Martinez… Read more »

Guatemalan Transgender Woman Lives Double Life, As A Male Schoolteacher And Female Prostitute

Guatemala City — Dressed as a man, the sixth-grade teacher leaves school and walks several blocks through a dangerous red-light district overrun with gangs and crack dealers. Arriving at a friend’s home, a transformation begins. Off come wide-leg jeans, T-shirt and a baseball cap that hides long hair. After an extensive, two-hour makeup session, Linda… Read more »

Discrimination Undermines AIDS Prevention

Guatemala City (IPS) – “At the clinic we were attended to by a woman who criticised us and only talked to us about religious questions,” says Carlos Valdez of Proyecto Unidos, an NGO in Guatemala that fights for access to HIV/AIDS prevention services by homosexuals and sex workers. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people “face… Read more »

Gay Guatemala News & Reports

1 Guatemala’s Maya Majority Flexes Its Political Muscles 8/96 2 Guatemalan Gays Hold First March 6/00 2a How To Be A Lesbian In Guatemala 10/00 3 Guatemala: Lesbian Activists Threatened 7/04 4 A Short History of Gay Guatemala 2004 5 Guatemalan Gays, Transgenders Victims Of Deadly Attacks 2/06 6 Transgender prostitutes get political to end… Read more »