The Politics of Sexuality in Latin America: A Reader on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights

Political Practices and Alliance Strategies of the Chilean GLBTT Movement

Political Practices and Alliance Strategies of the Chilean GLBTT Movement Héctor Núñez González Translated by Sarah Harper If we accept that they see us, we also accept that they are watching us. Leo Bersani, Hornos [. . .] I  begin this essay without recalling, briefly, the thirty years that have passed since the military coup in Chile that overtook the democratic government of Salvador Allende. That September , , democracy was repressed, leading the way to a long and painful sixteen years of bloody military dictatorship.Years have passed since the restoration of democracy, but impunity for crimes committed by the dictatorship persists, and memory of Chile’s repressive past seems to fade. It is necessary, now more than ever, to continue striving for and demanding truth and justice. The words“Dónde están?”(“Where are they?”), referring to those who were“disappeared” under the repressive regime, will remain etched in the history of the Chilean and Latin American people for those who fought and continue to fight against fascist oppression. [. . .] In , the Movimiento de Liberación Homosexual (Homosexual Liberation Movement ) erupted onto the Chilean sociopolitical scene.After years of discussion, debate, and alliance making that incited a dialogue about sexual minorities and broke the 381 boundaries of exclusion, the Movimiento de Liberación Sexual presented itself as a force of social and cultural change that reclaimed its derecho de diferencia (right to be different) against the repressive uniformity of the majority identity. The groundbreaking cultural and performative interventions of the group Yeguas del Apocalipsis (lead by artists Pedro Lemebel and Francisco Casas) are also significant. The first organization of Lesbianas Chilenas (Chilean Lesbians), within the group Ayuquelen, was formed after the homophobic murder of activist Mónica Briones in . The nascence of the Movimiento de Liberación Homosexual, in , was accentuated by the demand for justice and truth raised [. . .] by the Agrupación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Chile (Collective of Relatives of Victims of “Disappearance ” in Chile). Homosexuals, lesbians, and transvestites adopted this dialogue of human rights as their own, in order to petition for respect for diversity of sexual orientation. One morning in , as part of the march, mottoes promoting sexual diversity were spread across placards, banners, and flags. Writer Pedro Lemebel remembers this event in his tribute to the deceased founder of Agrupación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos, Sola Sierra: The drag queens of the processional have painted and adorned themselves as if it were Carnival; all of gay culture is present, loud and proud, to march through the Alameda neighborhood and scream: “Justice! Justice! We want justice!” [. . .] The next day all of the papers covered the march that topped off its scandalous performance by denouncing impunity. Sola Sierra could not have understood why the multitudes of homosexuals participated in that particular march, demanding respect. She was, for a long time, disgusted with the gay movement and did not share the desire to unite the gay front with its human-rights counterpart. In time, coalitions were formed and the presence of gays, lesbians, and transvestites in human-rights marches was applauded. [. . .] Following international precedent and complicit with the feminists of the Casa de la Mujer (Women’s House), La Morada, and other sectors tied to the national Left, gay-lesbian visibility converged within a political group founded by multiple leftist activists. The birth of this group was spurred by a tragic event. On September , , sixteen homosexuals burned to death in the nightclub Divine in Valparaíso. Ten years have passed since this voracious fire, believed to be motivated by homophobia, and the arsonists are yet to be found, leaving behind a shadow of doubt.Accusations surrounding this homophobic incident continue to circulate; a decade later, this tragedy has become the focal point of the desire for the vindication of the rights of sexual minorities in Chile, as well as a historical reference point for the activities of the  pride movement. 382 / Héctor Núñez González This milestone, which undoubtedly impacted public opinion at the time, inspired the new pride movement to lobby for the abolition of the law against sodomy— article  of the Chilean Penal Code—that prohibited, under penalty of imprisonment , homosexual practices. This demand was fundamental for the gay struggle during the first half of the s. Feminists, as well as other social and cultural players, supported this political objective within transitional Chile; they saw in...