LGBT Politics in Latin America

• Political scientists researching Latin America have historically overlooked LGBT politics.
• Sociologists, anthropologists, historians, and cultural studies scholars have given LGBT issues significant attention.
• Political scientists have extensively explored state formation, citizenship, democratization, and civil rights but have not focused much on LGBT issues.
• This reader aims to demonstrate that LGBT issues are significant in Latin American politics, especially during the "third wave of democratization."
• The works in compiles complete or excerpted works by scholars, analysts, activists, and politicians on the politics of advancing LGBT rights, focusing on works as recent as possible to the books publishing.
• It seeks regional and thematic coverage.
• The author's main beliefs are:
• LGBT politics is vital to the study of democratization.
• Studying LGBT politics offers unique perspectives on democratization such insights not easy to see when studying other social groups claiming rights.
• The works reveal two major themes collectively:
• LGBT rights struggles made unprecedented inroads by the twenty-first century in some domains and regions.
• These inroads came late compared to other democracies and social movements, and their continuation may not be guaranteed.
• The reader focuses on the uneven and delayed achievement of LGBT rights in Latin America, addressing the factors blocking or propelling these rights, starting with conceptualizing LGBT politics within democratization studies.

Fighting Heteronormativity

• LGBT politics challenges heteronormativity.
• Heteronormativity biases societies to organize social relations and citizenship based on reproductive heterosexuality.
• Heteronormativity affects how leaders and opinion-makers judge a person worth and eligibility for job promotions, welfare benefits, social status, pensions, and inheritance.
• It assumes people have sexual and emotional relationships with the opposite sex, raise heterosexual children, & perform gender-based roles aligning with binary definitions of male and female.
• LGBT politics creates safe spaces for those who do not conform to heteronormative expectations.
• Includes individuals attracted to the same sex, those whose gender identity deviates from binary norms & those whose identities conflict with their anatomy.
• Heteronormativity can affects nonconforming individuals politically and psychologically. It increases risk of exclusion, denigration, discrimination, hate crimes, forced migration and neglect by state security systems.
• LGBT politics struggles against conditions of discrimination, exclusion, and threat caused by heteronormativity.

Desires, Identities, Public Expressions, and Practices

• LGBT social movements share opposition to heteronormativity, rather then the same political views.
• Scholars face difficulty classifying concerns for all LGBT citizens due to complex and overlapping natures of these concerns.
• A way to understand the complications is in the differences between desires, sexual practices, identities, and behaviors.
• The main political concern for gay men and lesbians is expressing sexual orientations or desires without discrimination and having loving relationships socially recognized.
• Sexual orientation involves a profound capacity for relationships with others.
• Men with same-sex desires are gay, women are lesbians.
• Bisexuals desire relations with both.
• Homosexuals, like heterosexuals may practice practices such as celibacy, monogamy, nonmonogamy, or frequent partner changes.
• Crucial in defining orientation is the desire for emotional and sexual relations with the same sex; this vary by culture, generation, and setting.
• Recognition of gender identity and ending exclusion from social life such as education, employment and social networks is important to transgender individuals.
• Gender identity involves one's internal sense of gender, which may or may not correspond with their assigned sex at birth.
• Transgender people may or may not want to change their expression including dress, speech and mannerisms.
• Some adapt appearances and identities to match their true gender identities this is done partially or fully, permanently or occasionally, anatomically or through clothing and makeup, or altering their names.
• These individuals are called transgender, transvestite, or transsexual.
• Those who want anatomical change or hormone therapy dislike change of sex preferring to change their genitalia and appearance to their true gender identity.
• After transition, Transgenders stop referring to themselves as Transexuals and they are called men and woman.
• This adaptation may not be as exclusive alternatives, but include feminine and masculine elements.
• Queer Approach specifically challenges the idea that gender and sexuality are binary.
• Some believe gender is a cultural and social construction, while others believe it transcends understanding of material bodies.
• There are two sexes in construction of gender in heteronormativity and gender, and individuals should conform to this binary construction.
• Gender varies in a nonheteronormative lens.
• In Latin America, Transvestites have become visible in sex and encounters with police.
• Impossibility of entering job markets, psychosocial factors, & cultural perspectives make sex almost the exclusive income source for transgender individuals, thus transphobia, intolerance, police abuse, poverty, exposure to HIV/Aids, underemployment, & crime are factors.
• While identity may be a common trait of transgender citizens, LGB individuals don't require it.
• LGBT Citizens may engage in efforts to avoid being labeled.
• LGBT identities vary across historical periods, cultures, and friend circles, while same-sex desires exist for millenia.
• Harassment, discrimination, and gender expression take place, especially for feminine & masculine women or effeminate men during childhood & adolescence.
• Intersex people affected by heteronormativity- general term for people with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn't fit typical definitions of male or female.
• At least 1.7% of people born with possible intersexual conditions are conservatively estimated.
• Surgery "normalizes" the sexual apperance in most countries often.
• Intersex people may regret their decisions later, such as diminished sensitivity & sterility
• Also, women fighting heteronormativity simultaneously fight archaic issues such as gender hierarchy that are part of heteronormativity.
• Homophobia directed at women due to combining heteronormative standards and patriarchalism is hostile.
• Lesbians discover less public spaces than bisexual men and gay men.
• Important to reinterate that actual behavior varies from identity and desire.
• Not all desires translate into practices or behaviors, with the same being true with transgender activities to adapt their gender appearance.

Advancing LGBT & Realization of Heteronormative Society

• Realizing LGBT desires and identities in a heteronormative entails risks, costs, and obstacles. Thus fundamental freedom of expression/association are prevented by heteronormativity.
• Politics and hostility affects behavior and identity but not desires generally.
• Tolerance, recognition and legal practices all shape self-acceptance, activities, and homosexuality & loving relationships, plus nonconformance.
• A group of LGBT rights must coalesce to to advance LGBT Rights because it's necessary for any society.
• The group coalesces when individuals publicly develop nonheterosexual identities.
• LGBT citizens must question notion that gender identities and sexualities are fixed, yet they must develop stronger identities to gain power.

Numbers, Activism, Support

• Numbers and power correlates and dilemma with LGBT Rights in 3 Ways:
• Population has smaller amounts of LGB citizens.
• Possible to hide desires makes structural impediment even more restrictinge, harming LGBT Forces.
• Sexual categories aren't social groups, requiring bonding and external & internal visibility.
• LGBT politics fights attitudes and homophobic institutions.
• Tendecy of LGBT People look to the closet in order to seek security. Thus, closets are need for a temporary safety, but staying in them sabotages LGBT Activism.
• Plenty small groups democratic becomes influential in politics since they enjoy advantages that allows them capture policy.

Progress Review

• During the first decade and a half after the return to democracy, LGBT issues in Latin America remained in small circles or the closet since autocratic rule was not gay friendly.
• Cuba, Brazil and Argentina experienced the start ups of this activism in a negative way.
• Thus LGBT movements had less visibility during the transition to democracy
• LGBT rights didn't advance during the 1980's and 1990 due to triumphalism and the need to fram new institutions.
• In the late 1990's, most Latin America debated LGBT Issues, with legal enviroments becoming more pro LGBT in favor of expanding Rights.

Milestones and Events

• Constitution of Ecuador in 1998 including sexual orientation as a means to prevent discimination.
• Chile de-criminalized same-sex intercourse in 1999.
• Rio De Janeiro 2000- Ban on public and private establishment of LGBTQ+ discrimination
• Buenos Aires 2002- All couples guaranteed same-sex civil unions
• Mexico 2003- Federal level anti-discrimination law includes sexual orientation.
• Brazil 2004- Governement program- Brasil Sem Homofobia
• Mexico, 2006: City Approved Cohabitation Law
• Uruguay, 2007- Health Benefits and Inheritance
• Bogotá 2007- Public policies in Columbia.
• Cuba 2008- Legal sex changes
• Argentina 2009- moved towards same-sex marriage.

What's the Hold up?

• Latin America and homestay, given that homophobia at home is high it impededs gay community and leads to more discrimination.
• Homophobia can distort a gay identity. Thus delaying the rise of a gay identity
• independent youths find difficulty.
• Closet availability in some of the culture that has been a major obstacle to change.
• Importance of Role/Income for LGBT Rights
• Shocks and Horrors have not given attention to rights
• Difficult actions between social movements and political parties.
• Problem with household living is a key Problem in Latin America, especially with movements, often lead to having smaller social circles that are extended.
• There's exposure with all different kinds of discrimination that is not common with people from different groups in society.
• Main fear in town is relatives since the youth often lived and depended on the other and didn't experience practices
• Such Discrimination in Family 26.5 and 29.8 percent- often the number would extend high with more specific groups since most youth live with parents.
• Such Agression and Negligence is usually how the problem is solved that starts and must first affect the communities such.
• So, since it is not able to be solve most people have had an idea where to live, since black communities often stay and teach there children, this is against what happens.
• In contrast, Straight parents may intense reactions- such as family and relationship.
• Thus many people have said that if they could they would want to leave which leads to migration.
• Thus LGBT groups may be uncomfortable and unsafe if they chose behaviors. The author goes on a tangent.

Home Isn't Where the Heart Is

• Since families and communities create problems for them to live and express their sexuality that effects communities that have little exit for LGBT since there income is low
• The author gives a lot of examples of problems and things people can't solve outside their families which leads again with problems
• Street youth lead to little ability to civic engagement.
• Middle- and lower-class are the biggest problems in terms of class where the issue is most prevalent, migration is another problem.
• This then creates double minorties

Multiple Closets

• Ancient exits for youth happen through marriage with can cause to lower number of communities since it means an ancient exit for youth which means smaller movements that can take place since its harder to be visible
• Thus in latin America, that it is just easier to close and get closet since that culture helps that standard
  • More people become aware
• Three points can be summarized to make since the amount to which a spouse tolerates extra marital, provider behavior, and sexual roles and not need since not often.
• High class tends to make more of these behaviors since they can make up rules a lot.
• This could also have to do with all kinds of lesbians.
• Thus one could say that is going on but these have not disappeared and need and will remain as long as we are being effected and there is potential movements and social.

Income & Economic Issues

• Income levels affect things in a number of ways. But are expanded by top wealth.
• Means LGBT tend to have high chance since poor situations may cause more to open rights to express.
• Thus, a way to have political priority is those communities and individuals. LGBT are often a post materialism concern: when the needs of the world don't count.
• Larger income urban groups that are mid class, it's easier to go and do things without effects around.
• Since it has been plagued by a lot there are problems of economic issues to grow and fix these problems
• There are problems economic issues often affect people who are not in the correct state or view and opinion.
• As person status income goes up the chance for an opinion to diminish, like education

Limited Acceptance

• It leads to low behaviors, not very often to see a LGBT Community.
• The right movement doesn't just happen within the Latin community and throughout the world, since it depends on shock.
• It produces since, human right is the area for those to have a sense on the shock and what is going on to do for the community.
• They start to act nice from health rights after they were not nice since the communities were affected by that violence which is in turn a problem to react to those. Communities can live.

Obstacles to Progress

• Obstacles such as obstacles, mobilized and have high degree of faced. Scholars feel that most pose that religious beliefs in the community can often consider all and can be viewed as immoral or sinful. Which is negative since that idea is not easy to change.
• Also, political movements have a lot of things within them and political parties have always have an issue not making easy or liking to do but they always do
• The Catholic Church has been the thing that has always been said for things.
• There is something incorrect to see that and find diversity within and against with most kinds of communities.
• The catholic and catholic is becoming in Latin America.
• Catholic churches have done less in countries. More for things that affect people and can easily fix.
• This then the things in many countries and the same and the same in others and many who do not make any progress.

Future

• We can summerization the late and uneven bloom of LGBT issues in Latin community as those youths stay in certain parts of communities and fear a bad choice if made poorly or quickly.
• The needs to settle fights, people dominating, and needs affecting make less change as to take problems for granted on the news.
• Third the parties are facing problems and many of those do not want to embrace materials
• Many forces are pushing LGBT, and many do not, as people are becoming very vocal so more positive outcomes seem to happen at last and those movements are expanding and increasing.