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SPECIAL REPORTS-
Thursday 17 December 2009 |
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RIGHTS-NICARAGUA: An Ombudswoman for Sexual
Diversity
By José Adán Silva
MANAGUA (IPS) - At last, homosexuals
in Nicaragua have someone to uphold their
rights: an ombudswoman for sexual diversity
has been appointed to defend the rights of
the gay community, estimated to number half
a million people.
The new ombudswoman's office started work
this month with the remit to "recognise the
constitutional rights and duties of all
citizens, whatever their sexual orientation,
as universal rights which must be
respected," human rights ombudsman Omar
Cabezas told IPS.
The person appointed to the new post is
María Samira Montiel, a young lawyer who has
been an activist in the lesbian movement in
Nicaragua for the past decade, and who has a
high profile because of her campaigns
against abuses and discrimination against
people with different sexual identities.
This Central American country of 5.7 million
people is the second poorest country in the
western hemisphere after Haiti. And although
constitutionally it is a secular state, the
Catholic Church has an extremely strong
influence, to the point that abortion is
illegal under all circumstances, even when
the mother's life is at risk, and
homosexuality was regarded as a crime
punishable by imprisonment until 2008.
Montiel told IPS that her brief as a public
official serving a cultural minority will
transcend issues like promoting same-sex
marriage or adoption of children by same-sex
couples, both of which are illegal at
present.
"My agenda goes beyond such specific goals.
I will take legal action against abusive
practices and institutional discrimination
against gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transsexual people, and anyone else who
feels they are unfairly treated because of
their sexual identity," she said.
She said that in her new post she will work
for policies to guarantee access to the
public health system, laws for the respect
of labour rights, and an end to hostility in
the public education system, among other
things.
"All our lives we have lived with contempt
and violence; now it's time to end this
discrimination, and for society not only to
accept us, but to recognise us and respect
our way of thinking," Montiel said.
There are three lesbian organisations in the
country, four men's groups for sexual
diversity, and an entire network of people
who identify with the gay movement and the
community's human rights.
A central alliance is the Strategic Group
for Sexual Diversity Rights (GEDDS), made up
of the Safo lesbian group, the Sexual
Diversity Initiative for Human Rights (IDSDH),
the Nicaraguan Association of Transsexuals (ANIT)
and the Centre for International Studies (CEI).
The organisations are carrying out a study
titled "Una mirada a la diversidad sexual en
Nicaragua" (A Look at Sexual Diversity in
Nicaragua), with the support of the
Norwegian embassy. Preliminary results,
released in Managua, reflect a deep-rooted
culture of rejection and contempt for
same-sex couples who live together.
The final results of the study will be
published in January. Meanwhile, it has
found that discrimination and homophobia are
common practices in public and private
institutions, at schools and within
families.
One hundred percent of non-heterosexual
respondents in the study reported suffering
discrimination in primary schools, high
schools and universities.
At least 12 percent of GLBT people who are
open about their sexual orientation have
suffered physical violence because of it.
Others said they dropped out of their places
of study because of the discrimination they
had to endure.
A report issued by the Human Rights
Ombudsman's Office prior to Montiel's
appointment said that the state institutions
most often criticised for ill-treatment and
discrimination against these communities are
the police, the Health Ministry and the
Education Ministry.
In the health sector, discrimination is
practised by doctors in general or family
practice, specialists, auxiliary staff and
even security guards, who frequently treat
patients with non-traditional sexual
preferences abusively or off-handedly.
The study emphasises that over half of those
who have come out of the closet, even just
to a limited circle of people, have had to
endure rejection by their own families. Many
have been thrown out by their parents, and
close relatives have physically attacked
them.
The preliminary results highlight the
leading role played by churches of Christian
denominations in discriminating against the
GLBT community. From different viewpoints,
many churches condemn same-sex relationships
as "an aberration."
This is in spite of the deep-rooted
spirituality expressed by the GLBT
community, the report says.
"In spite of rejection by different churches
and religions, by Catholic or evangelical
church leaders, the community has not lost
faith in God," the study says.
Representatives of different confessions
were, in fact, the first to protest the
appointment of a special official to protect
the rights of homosexuals.
The National Council of Evangelical Pastors
of Nicaragua (CNPEN), on behalf of the
second largest religious community in the
country after the Catholic Church, issued a
pastoral letter on Dec. 4 declaring its
"concern over the creation of the
Ombudswoman's Office for the Defence of
Sexual Diversity Rights."
Reverend Mario Espinoza, the leader of the
Council, said "the evangelical church does
not agree with the creation of this
Ombudswoman's Office, because it will give
free rein to immorality. Homosexuality and
lesbianism are condemned in the Bible and
are serious sins in God's eyes."
At Sunday mass in Catholic Churches,
Nicaraguan families were exhorted to reject
"sodomite practices" and respect the "divine
commandment of marriage between a man and a
woman."
But by no means all the reactions to the
decision have been critical. Human rights
activists, campaigners against HIV/AIDS,
women's organisations and other social
groups praised the appointment of Montiel,
calling it a step towards respect for human
rights and social tolerance.
Bayardo Izabá of the Nicaraguan Human Rights
Centre (CENIDH) said the creation of a
special office to look after the rights of a
social minority was "a great stride
forward."
"Sexual orientation must be understood as a
condition that must be protected against
discrimination. States cannot restrict the
protection of human rights depending on
people's sexual orientation, and this
appointment is extremely important," Izabá
told IPS.
Until 2008, Nicaragua was one of the Latin
American countries that kept homosexuality,
referred to as "sodomy," on its statute
books, as a crime punishable by one to three
years in prison.
The criminal code also penalised those who
promoted, assisted or tolerated persons of
the same sex living together.
Every year on International Day Against
Homophobia, hundreds of people in Latin
American countries like Argentina, Chile,
Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, and in
the United States and several European
cities, used to protest outside Nicaraguan
embassies and consulates to express their
condemnation of the country's
criminalisation of homosexuality.
Nicaragua's new criminal code, which came
into force last year, now punishes
discrimination with prison sentences of six
months to one year, or fines.
Preventing or hindering the exercise, by
others, of a right enshrined in the
constitution, laws, regulations and other
legal provisions, because of their economic,
social, religious, political, personal or
sexual condition, is now a crime.
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