Richard Yu

Dr. Joseph Wieczorek

WLSP 201

March 22, 2017

LGBTQ Rights of Columbia

Throughout the world, people faces discrimination because of someone they love, how

they act, or who they are in general. Sexual orientation and gender identity are part of who we

are and should never judge. Fortunately, with Columbia, LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,

Transgender, Queer) rights has progress over a short amount of time. Starting with the

legalization of same-sex sexual activity in 1981 to the legalization of same sex marriage in April

2016.

In 1981, Homosexuality was declared legal by the Columbian Government. This was due

to the hard protest of many activists like the Medellin and MLHC. In response, a small group of

32 men, walked the first Gay pride parade a year later. Unfortunately, since majority of the

citizens of Columbia were still against gay rights, the group of men had to be escorted/protected

by nearly a hundred policeman. Violence sadly didn’t stop there. In the late 1980’s, Groups of

anti- gay individuals started revolting against people of the LGBT community. Over a 20-year

span of violence occurred but not until the early 2000’s did the government actually make

significant change. Some achievements that the LGBTQ community made was the right to

change names for the transgender community and protection against LGBTQ discrimination in

the work force. In February 2007, the Columbian Constitutional Court recognized the right for

same sex couple to be registered as a union. Unfortunately, that dropped in June 2007 because of

the advisement of Pedro Rubiano (The president of the Catholic Bishop council). Fortunately, in
October 2007, The Columbian Constitutional Court ruled appealed the drop and granted all same

sex couple the same healthcare and social security benefit as heterosexual couples. This went

even further in April 2008, The Columbian Constitutional Court granted all Columbian same sex

couple the same rights as heterosexual couples. In July 2011, Same sex couples were recognized

as a form of a family, which let to November 2015, where all same sex couples were allowed to

adopt children equally as heterosexual couples. Finally, on April 28, 2016, The Columbian

Constitutional Court legalized same sex marriage.

With all the positive changes Columbia accomplished, Unfortunately the the citizen on

Columbia are not in favor for LGBT Rights. A Pew research survey from 2014 has found 64% of

Colombians still opposing gay marriage. One reasoning would be because 75% of the Columbia

population is practicing Catholicism. Catholicism teaches that marriage can only be between a

man and a woman and with the implementation of Same Sex marriage this bring tension in the

the government vs. religion. Leading figures of the Catholic faith including Pedro Rubiano as

mention above, have sometimes actively campaigned against same-sex marriage. But even with

the high pressure from the religious community, Columbia still strives to be more open,

Especially with the media. In the last couple of years, the television stations in Columbia has

soap operas with gay characters. In politics, the current president Juan Manuel Santos has two

open gay ministers and have shown support of LGBTQ rights. Event in Colombia’s capital

Bogota, has a many openly gay communities, such as gay neighborhood, gay bars, and a center

that provides counseling to the LGBT community.

Cited:
1 Banning-Lover, Rachel, and Joe Sandler Clarke. "Six Countries Making Progress on
LGBT Rights." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 10 Feb. 2016. Web. 09 Nov.
2016.
2 "LGBT Rights in the Americas." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 09 Nov.
2016.
3 Campaign, Human Rights. "Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ Issues: Roman Catholic Church
| Human Rights Campaign." Human Rights Campaign. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.