Colombia to recognize rights of gays By JOSHUA GOODMAN, Associated Press Writer Fri Jun 15, 6:38 PM ET
BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombia is set to become the first Latin American country to give established gay couples full rights to health insurance, inheritance and social security under a bill passed by its Congress.
ADVERTISEMENT
The plan approved Thursday is expected to take effect soon. It is backed by the country's conservative President Alvaro Uribe.
The measure would allow gay couples in long-term relationships to have the same health insurance and social security benefits as heterosexual couples. It also guarantees that assets accumulated during the relationship will be divided between the two, and in the case of death, inherited by the survivor.
Previously, possessions were passed on to blood relations.
Some states and cities in Latin America have passed similar laws, but no other country in the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic region has done so at a national level, said Marcela Sanchez, director of the gay rights group Colombia Diversa. She said as many as 300,000 gay couples in Colombia stand to benefit.
"I'm elated," said Catalina Gomez, an English teacher, who said she plans to use the new legal status to take out health insurance for her partner Monica, a self-employed designer and disc jockey. "It validates our union before the law so we no longer have to going around lying about our relationship."
Congress' lower house passed the bill 62-43 following a heated debate in which Alfredo Cuello Baute, the president of the chamber, accused gay lawmakers of a conflict of interest.
"I hope photos don't turn up showing some of our colleagues dressed as drag queens on Caracas Avenue," said Baute, referring to a nighttime cruising spot for transvestites and male prostitutes in Bogota.
Colombia's Senate passed a similar version in April. The two chambers must now agree on a unified text before sending it for Uribe's signature as early as next week.
"This is a victory that only a few months ago seemed unthinkable in this country," said pro-government Sen. Armando Benedetti, one of the bill's sponsors. "To my surprise, the Congress has shown itself to be a modern, responsible and liberal institution."
Colombia's Constitutional Court recognized similar rights to shared property and inheritance in a February ruling, but that decision did not deal with health insurance or social security.
While homosexuality is still taboo in much of Latin America, there has been increasing acceptance in many areas. Mexico City and the Mexican state of Coahuila recently joined the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires and the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul in legalizing same-sex civil unions.
Opponents of the measure and representatives of the Roman Catholic Church said they feared the Colombian law may open the way to gay marriage and gay adoption. But activists say their campaign is focused for now on obtaining practical benefits.
"Now people will have no choice but to accept we exist and have the same rights as straight couples," said Jose Luis Bautista, 36, who has been living with his partner Jaime for 15 years.
Email Story IM Story Printable View RECOMMEND THIS STORY
Recommend It:
Average (53 votes)
» Recommended Stories
--- Carl Remick <carlremick at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >From: "Brian Charles Dauth"
> <magcomm at ix.netcom.com>
> >
> >Carl Remick wrote:
> > > Yes, I think that fixation on "pet issues,"
> identity politics, etc. is
> > ultimately a way of avoiding The Issue, which IMO
> is class.
> >
> >Well, since the identity my husband and I share
> have brought each
> >of us at various times close to being killed, I
> must disagree with your
> >assessment of identity politics as being a pet
> issue (though if you
> >see queer lives as being no more than a pet concern
> your position
> >makes perfect [non]sense). ...
>
> Identity politics by definition represent
> particularized issues -- concerns
> that, no matter how legitimate and urgent, are
> secondary when considering
> how to effect a more just society in total. The
> only issue that offers the
> potential for fundamental change is class.
>
> During three decades of association with business, I
> have seen marked gains
> in diversity of all kinds in the corporate world,
> yet society overall has
> regressed and grown more oligarchic during this
> time, affording far greater
> security and services of every kind to people of
> wealth, and far greater
> insecurity and loss of everyday amenities to people
> without wealth.
> US-style capitalism has grown more nakedly
> plutocratic and brutal in the
> last 30 years, more evasive of responsibility toward
> workers, small
> investors and communities in order to indulge the
> whims of the corporate
> elite. All of this has taken place during a time of
> record advances in
> "equal opportunity" in the workplace, including
> unprecedented access of
> minorities and women to executive positions.
>
> It avails society nothing to grant people equal
> opportunity to become mofos.
> What needs to change is the system itself, and
> systemic change, in turn,
> calls for class-based analysis and action.
>
> Carl
>
>
_________________________________________________________________
> Make every IM count. Download Messenger and join the
> i’m Initiative now.
> It’s free.
>
http://im.live.com/messenger/im/home/?source=TAGHM_June07
>
> > ___________________________________
>
http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
____________________________________________________________________________________ Got a little couch potato? Check out fun summer activities for kids. http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=oni_on_mail&p=summer+activities+for+kids&cs=bz