CHILE: Street campaign push for gay rights

Record ID: 335263

  • Title: CHILE: Street campaign push for gay rights
  • Date: 14th May 2010
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JIMENEZ SAYING: "This campaign is basically focused on three points. First is the cultural change, which is the campaign in the buses next week. Another, the one with the girls kissing, is the necessity to regulate, to give legal protection to all couples so they have the same rights as other married people. And the third is the need to open a dialogu
  • Embargoed: 29th May 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Chile
  • Country: Chile
  • Topics: Legal System,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA35570OSFAHN03S3EJG6YEH44V
  • Story Text: Chile is trying to shrug off its socially conservative image with a street campaign that pushes for the acceptance of sexual minorities.
    People in downtown Santiago were greeted on Thursday (May 13) with signs like this, depicting a young pregnant woman and her partner with the inscription, 'What if it's gay?' clearly meaning the unborn child.
    The campaign, financed by Holland's embassy in Chile, is part of a push by gay rights activists to pass a new anti-discrimination law in Chile, where acceptance of homosexuals has been slow in coming after the repressive dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).
    One young passerby named Daniel said the images on the posters are 'shocking' because people aren't used to seeing them.
    "To walk down the street and see two men or two women kissing, I think that's shocking for anyone who's not used to seeing it. It's shocking."
    Another sign shows two women kissing and asks for 'legal equality for all couples'.
    The campaign has plans to put posters up in public transport and has captured the attention of local news outlets in Chile, where divorce was illegal until 2004.
    Rolando Jimenez, the president of the gay rights group, said he is happy with the reception the campaign has had.
    "This campaign is basically focused on three points. First is the cultural change, which is the campaign in the buses next week. Another, the one with the girls kissing, is the necessity to regulate, to give legal protection to all couples so they have the same rights as other married people. And the third is the need to open a dialogue in Chilean families if one of their children is born homosexual, or lesbian or transgender. We're very happy with the reaction the Chilean society has had," Jimenez said.
    But even if Jimenez is happy with the campaign's reception, most Chileans aren't used to seeing to open displays of homosexuality.
    "I think it's shocking for the Chilean people because they're not used to seeing homosexuality. I don't find it shocking. It's just so people realize what's happening now and don't discriminate," said one young woman.
    "If you look at it from a distance, everyone discriminates, whether they are small, fat, skinny, whatever, people will discriminate," added another woman.
    During the recent presidential campaign in Chile, the two top candidates -- both Catholics who have said marriage is between a man and woman -- showed tentative support for same sex unions.
    President Sebastian Pinera surprised many when he included a gay couple in a television spot he ran during his campaign.
    But the issue still awakens controversy in Chile, where most of the population is Catholic and the church holds considerable sway in public policy and opinion.
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