The organization will make next Tuesday May 15 at the Municipal Comptroller of San Joaquín, Carabobo state, the dictation of a Workshop on “Sexual Diversity, Discrimination and Respect for Differences” within the framework of the Day.

The same will be dictated from 8:30 am to 12 noon in the “Don Carlos Arenas” Room of said external fiscal control body.

On May 17, the Reflejos de Venezuela Foundation will hold the Conversation Cinema: “Facing Fear”.
A moment of debate. A Life of Forgiveness / Jason Cohen’s Documentary

Reflejos de Venezuela Foundation in its project “I AM NOT DISTINT @, DO NOT TRACT ME DIFFERENT”.

CONFRONTING THE FEAR is a documentary that shows two worlds colliding when a former neonazi skinhead and the gay victim of his hate crime attack meet by chance 25 years after the incident that dramatically shaped their lives. Together, they embark on a journey of forgiveness that challenges both to deal with their beliefs and fears, eventually leading to an unlikely collaboration … and friendship.

For this activity we have the cooperation of a space won against LGBTI discrimination, such as the MEGA SALA DIGITAL MOVISTAR of Fundación Telefónica in Venezuela.

Day: Thursday, May 17, 2018 pm.
Time: 2:30 pm
Place: MEGA DIGITAL MOVISTAR ROOM Av. Francisco de Miranda, Canaima Park Tower, level C-2 Urb. Los Palos Grandes Caracas.

Free entry
Limited Space – Fill out this form https://goo.gl/forms/HkQjLNslY0tQ5zoo1

Union Afirmativa organization will make a panel called “Lesbian Maternity” on Saturday, the 19th at 3:00 p.m. a in the framework of the Day in the city of Caracas.

The celebrations were placed under the sign of disappointment, as national authorities at the last minute decided to withdraw a parliament resolution giving May 17 official recognition as “National Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia”

Despite the bitter pill, on May 15 the organization Reflections Venezuela held the activity “NO SOY DISTINT@, NO ME TRATES DISTINT@”. It was aimed to present “awareness and training” on the issue of Sexual Diversity with the support of the US Embassy in Venezuela. “NO SOY DISTINT@, NO ME TRATES DISTINT@” is conceived as a strategy of awareness and education against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, family and society that seeks to inform, educate, promote respect and tolerance in  Venezuelan society.

In the capital, Caracas, it was held for the fourth consecutive year the “4th Walk Against Homophobia and Transphobia” on May 17 from the Crista Park organized by the organization Venezuela Diversa.
The walk is a peaceful unarmed protest demonstration for the enforcement of human rights.

Actions for the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia were organised in eight different states in Venezuela, in 2014. Just some of the highlights from around the country included various street marches and demonstrations, the release of new public awareness and advocacy materials, and official proclamations from local and state authorities, in honour of May 17.

Caracas communities demonstrate on May 17

In Caracas there were two separate activities organised around the IDAHOT 2014 – reflecting the currently polarised state of Venezuelan politics.

One was the 4th Annual March Against Homophobia and Transphobia. The march was prevented from following its traditional route, after intervention by the local (Libertador) Municipal authorities, and had to stay within the Chacao Municipality. The event was held under the slogan “I’m LGBTI, I have the right to freely express my personality”, and was organised by Venezuela Diversa and Positivos en Colectivo. The parade aimed to petition the Bolivarian government, and other governments around the world, to protect the rights of LGBTI people.

A separate demonstration was also organised by the PSUV (the Chavista bloc) in Libertador.

“Freedom of expression is a fundamental right that cannot be denied on the basis of the sexual orientation, gender identity and expression of a person. This is guaranteed in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and in international law.

…a free and independent media is essential to inform the public and to give voice to LGBTI people to discuss issues that affect them… media has a social responsibility, and ethics play a role in combating all forms of discrimination, including discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and to promote mutual understanding between groups.- May 17 statement by Venezuela Diversa and Positivos en Colectivo.

Yonatan Matheus, Director of Venezuela Diversa said “there are endless rights we must vindicate such as the right to identity recognition of transgender people, non-violence in all its expressions by the security forces, in education, in centres of public and private health, in political discourse, in all public spaces”.

Mauricio Gutierrez, representative from Positivos en Colectivo, said “it is a step forward that the municipal councils of Chacao and Baruta unanimously signed the May 13 agreements aimed at promoting respect for sexually diverse communities, and declared May 17 the Municipal day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.”

Municipal authorities speak out

Declarations on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia 2014 were made by the following municipalities of Caracas: Chacao Municipality, Baruta Municipality and Libertador Municipality.

Previously, the day was declared by the El Hatillo Municipality, and by the Umbrella Municipality of Caracas (2011). The only municipality that is not currently celebrating in Caracas the day, is the Municipality of Sucre.

Puerto Ordaz: Declared in the State of Bolivar the IDAHO-T. They had a concentration on 17 May.

Other activities

Public demonstrations around IDAHOT 2014 were also reported in:

Valencia, Estado Carabobo
Barinas, State of Barinas
Mérida, State of Merida
Maracaibo, State of Zulia
Maturin, State of Monagas, and
Macuto, State of Vargas.

The organization Reflejos de Venezuela also took action around the IDAHOT 2014, including the launch of a guide for parents of LGBT children and young people. The aim was to raise awareness amongst parents of LGBT people, and to encourage a spirit of comprehension around these questions.

The events that are planned for May 17 consist of:
– the 3rd Walk against Homophobia and Transphobia under the theme: ‘Let’s make Venezuela a country where free expression of LGBTI people is respected’
– seminaries at educational centres of basic education and universities
– Continuing with the advocacy work directed at the National Executive and the National Assembly (Congress) to push for the approval of the Decree ‘National Day against Homophobia and Transphobia’
– Workshops for police forces in regards to respecting the free expression of LGBTI people

The organisation Venezuela Diversa Asociación Civil is a non-profit institution of social character and human development which was born on August 15 in 2007 and was legally constituted in the city of Caracas on June 13 in 2008.

The mission of Venezuela Diversa is the advancement and defense of Human Rights for LGBTI people encouraging the development of initiatives and mechanisms of social participation which enables the involvement of the civil society, individuals and the Venezuelan state in the fight against all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

For more information go the their website or follow them on Twitter.

By Nevin Öztop – Kaos GL and IDAHO Committee team. Originally published here. Venezuela is actually one of the very first countries in the world to legally recognize trans identity, in 1977. However, in practice, trans people are still facing enormous legal problems and Tamara is here to picture it for us. This is also a good time to invite those who would like to listen to Tamara in person to Ankara in May 2014. She will be among the main guests of the 9th IDAHO-T events hosted by Kaos GL in Turkey.

Are you still working at the University of Católica Andrés Bello, which is also where you have studied? How are your working conditions?

I have been teaching at the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, where I graduated as a lawyer with highest honors over three decades ago. I also teach at the Universidad Central de Venezuela and recently at the Universidad Metropolitana. I was a well-known lawyer and professor by the time I started my transition. That helped me in maintaining my working conditions and having an adequate status of life. I know I am privileged for that, but at the same time it shows that prejudices act in both ways. Therefore we have to push forward for the change of minds: Your ability to have a profession has nothing to do with your sexual orientation or your gender identity. Of course, laws against labor discrimination are indispensable for achieving this goal. But   what is more important is to implement effective affirmative action aiming at overcoming the lack of professional training for most of trans population, which conducts to poverty and deeper exclusion.

Venezuelan Constitution calls you “and etc.”, just like the Turkish Constitution call us. Here nothing has changed since we spoke the last time. Anything new over there?

No, nothing has really changed. For the time being, my case for the legal recognition of my legal identity according to my gender identity, is before the Inter American Commission of Human Rights. Venezuela had presented arguments against this petition that are totally out of the scope of my petition, pretending to affirm that the change of name –but not sex- as theoretically permitted by the Organic Civil Registry Law, had to be requested before any other recognition of identity. Of course this is a nonsense argument and pretends to create confusion in the Commission. But the Commission is very clear with regard to what “gender identity” means, and had even appointed a Special Rapporteur for LGBT issues, and therefore this position of the Venezuelan State is only aiming to delay the resolution. This is unfortunate, as in the rest of the countries of the South American region, huge advancements had been achieved. This is particularly the case for Argentina, where the Gender Identity Law permits the change of name and sex, and the issuance of a new birth certificate before the Civil Registry Officer, without any medical requirements nor of any kind of surgery. This is a new international standard with regard to the recognition of gender identity, and is being promoted in other countries of the region.

In housing and employment, Venezuela does offer protection; however it is almost impossible to prove the means of discrimination. As a lawyer, please tell us a bit more about your struggle.

In order to make effective rules of law concerning discrimination, it is necessary for them to be accompanied by the inversion of the burden of proof. This means that in the presence of an action or omission that a person considers to be discriminatory against him or her, it is the responsibility of the person incurring in this action or omission to proof that the act was not based on a discriminatory consideration. In the absence of this rule of law, to proof discrimination is almost impossible. This is the reason why there are no precedents whatsoever in Venezuelan courts concerning discrimination on any grounds, including some very well described grounds of discrimination such as racism.

Once you said “They are not in a fight with us, but they also pretend not to see us.” in regard to the state position on LGBT reality. Has this changed much after the death of Hugo Chávez?

After the death of Chavez, nothing had really changed in the law. Furthermore, many persons consider the new President, Mr. Maduro, to be much more homophobic or transphobic than Chavez. Nevertheless, during the recent electoral campaign some candidates did mention LGBT population and struggles but without specific commitments. Much more recently the so called “Plan for the Country” was approved by the National Assembly, and there you may find some mentions of LGBT populations, although not having specific commitments towards it. It mainly states that the “new country” needs the participation of everybody, and then mention women, workers, students, and a number of other groups of persons. This includes persons belonging to “sexual diversity” as if they were not part of the other groups.

In the last few months, a large number of South American countries have witnessed mass numbers of protests and sit-ins. Over here we also had the most vocal demonstrations. How has this effected the visibility and the life conditions of South American LGBTs?

I do not think those protests had any specific impact with regard to LGBT population’s quality of life, besides the general impact it may have had –if any- on the general population. This is, for instance, the case of the protests in Brazil: As they were general protests, I cannot detect any specific impact with regard to LGBTI issues.

We are hosting you in Ankara for the 9th annual IDAHO-T actions in May 2014. We are very excited! Can you give us hints about what you will underline the most in your contribution?

I am very excited too to be there for IDAHO-T actions in Ankara. This year actions would be organized by local organizations taking into account the idea of “freedom of expression”. This idea came to us because we wanted to have a common idea that may, at the same time, encompass the actions against homophobic laws enacted in Russia and other countries, but also actions in countries where greater equality had been achieved. In this latter case, the idea is to emphasize that “freedom of expression”, as a human right, cannot be limited to or confused with freedom of speech. In our view, and this is what we are trying to achieve with this year’s campaign, freedom of expression includes the right to express yourself through your clothes, attitudes, manners, hair, etc., and therefore clearly covers the right to express your sexual orientation or your gender identity. We believe that this is a very powerful idea that may have strong potential to push forward the developments of existing international documents concerning freedom of expression. In Ankara, I will be contributing about this topic.

Related articles:

IDAHO’s Newly Elected Board Announced! – Kaos GL

Tamara is a Venezuelan lawyer, with a Doctorate degree, a law Professor, and a researcher. She has written extensively on LGBTI rights in various languages. She has been a pillar of the Venezuelan LGBTI movement for many years through her involvement in the organisation Diverlex, and her action has impacted the entire region.

She is the author of a draft Gender Identity Law, a Civil Partnership Law, a Non-Discrimination Law and a Civil Registry Law, submitted to the National Assembly of Venezuela, pending to be discussed.

She is an active participant in many of the lead legal movements in the country concerning gender and sexual diversity issues, and she proposed amendments to the Venezuelan constitution in 2007 regarding LGBTTTI rights, that were further reproduced in the Ecuadorian and in the Bolivian constitutions as of 2008 and 2009.

She was part of the drafting committee for the Proposal of an American Convention on Sexual Rights and Reproductive Rights and participated in consultation committees of the World Health Organisation and the Pan-American Health Organization.

Tamara currently holds the World Trans Secretariat of ILGA with Diverlex.

As a trans* and lesbian woman, Tamara has been involved in constant activities aimed at the recognition and protection of the civil and human rights of lesbian, gays, bisexuals, trans* and intersexual people. As a feminist woman, she has been involved in all the fights concerning the protection of women rights.

Tamara commented on her election: “being a Venezuelan citizen, and living in Venezuela, I hope my appointment will have a positive impact on the spread of the IDAHOT in the Global South, especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America and I’m very much looking forward to contributing to the Day’s development”.

The board members wish to express their congratulations to Tamara and their excitement to have her take this leadership, which they are confident will also help increase the involvement and the visibility of trans* and lesbian communities in the Day’s mobilisation.

– – – – – – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – -

Marcha en Caracas para decir NO a la homofobia

Un centenar de homosexuales y lesbianas se manifestaron este sábado en Caracas para reclamar mayores derechos civiles, como el matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo y que cese la discriminación en su contra.

“No a la homofobia, sí a la inclusión”, gritaban los participantes en esta marcha, convocada por las organizaciones Diversa Venezuela y COMAC, que recorrió una zona céntrica de Caracas.

Registro en medios:

• El Nuevo Herald: Gays y lesbianas manifiestan en Caracas para exigir derechos

• Informe21: Comunidad homosexual venezolana camina contra la discriminación

Activists also pushed for the publication the National University’s policy on discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The city of Caracas celebrated the first anniversary of the “Caracas without Homophobia” strategy. In addition, a number of conferences were being held on such topics as homophobia in the workplace and international law, and many radio programs related to the Day will be broadcast. The British Embassy also hosted a reception.

In the city of Valencia in the state of Carabobo, a parade against homo/transphobia was held.

Other activities that took place include radio and TV interviews and forums.