Gay in Venezuela: A dangerous mix

by smkovalinsky | November 5, 2009 at 08:39 am

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"GLBTI persons suffer strong rejection in Venezuela, because of dogma, social prejudice and mistaken medical or psychiatric diagnoses," said Edgar Carrasco, who directed the survey. "And the worst of," he added, "is that the discrimination and impunity is related to the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic."
From Huffington Post online

"Like most of those arrested, our identity documents and mobile phones were taken away, we were beaten, our sexual orientation was insulted in degrading language, and we were refused permission to speak to the Justice Ministry officials and members of the National Guard who were present."~ Gay reporter in Venezuela

In Latin America, especially in Venezuela, gays are the targets of a brutal police discrimination. Despite Operation Safe Caracas, it is still rampant, and gays are excessively profiled at check points and other police sites.

Police have been known to shoot pellets at gay persons as they drive by, shouting homophobic insults.

The vans set out for the Caracas police headquarters with their load of detainees, but Marques, Matheus and two minors were left by the main highway crossing the city. They had to walk to the city centre, where they contacted officials at the Ombudsman's Office to file complaints.

This incident in October was one of the multiple arbitrary arrests carried out against the GLBTI (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transvestite, transgender and intersex) community, within the framework of Operation Safe Caracas, a campaign to crack down on crime involving personnel from several police forces and the National Guard, a military body with police functions.

This is a Latin, not WASP- Puritan culture. I point that out to counter the stereotype about Christian whites and their attitude toward gays.

And, Venezuela is a SOCIALIST country and, yet, the oppression continues, as it did under Fidel Castro.

Yet, gay activists continue this stereotyping of white Christians and/or capitalists as being the devil behind gay oppression.

So, cut the BS, gay activists. Sometimes you are your own worst enemy, just as American blacks set themselves back by calling white critics of Obama "racist".

This is the same psycho-dynamic at work, and, it is time to grow up and grow a pair to deal with life and stop scapegoating and stereotyping.

In the last forty years, the progress in both camps has been tremendous, if imperfect.

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