Lars Peterson has spent most of his life within thirty miles of the U.S.-Mexico border or living in Latin America. Currently a Ph.D. student in History at the University of Pittsburgh, until November he will be conducting dissertation research in Uruguay on a Fulbright Fellowship. Whenever he is not pouring through dusty newspapers, old political pamphlets, or once confidential police records he enjoys non-academic writing, exploring social issues through short story and creative nonfiction in the hopes of motivating change.
The political pendulum swings from left to right, right to left, predisposed as it is to (eventually) conclude its motion in the middle—a place at least tolerable to most parties. For those of us keeping a close watch on the “gay question” that place of stasis appears a long way off. In fact, for a very long time now, it has seemed that in the Americas the pendulum spent an embarrassing amount of time on the right. Proposition 8 in California caught many by surprise and seemed to temporarily sap the morale of gay marriage proponents (though Iowa’s 2009 gay marriage law held out some promise).
Then about a year ago came the avalanche. First Uruguay passed Latin America’s first national gay adoption law (civil unions had been legal there since 2008). Then Mexico City passed a gay marriage law at the end of 2009. And then, in the course of a week (beginning August 1st), victories snowballed. Argentina celebrated its first gay marriage (permitted by a law passed in mid-July), Prop 8 was struck down by a California judge, and Mexico City’s law was upheld by the Mexican Supreme Court.
"Kiss who you want to"
In the United States stereotypes abound regarding Latin America’s strong machista culture (with corresponding levels of homophobia). But recent victories for homosexuals (in Uruguay, Argentina, and Mexico City) should call into question such assumptions given that Latin America appears to be getting its national house in order quite a bit faster than the United States.
Of course, gay Latin Americans and allies still have tough battles ahead as evidenced by a speech given by Argentina’s first gay matrimony. Said Ernesto Larrese (a famous Argentine actor who married his partner of 34 years, Alejandro Vannelli): “The sick are the homophobes, not the homosexuals. The sick are the people with claustrophobia, not the elevators. The sick are the people with xenophobia, not the foreigners. Why would an airplane be at fault for someone’s fear of heights? Why would we homosexuals be at fault for the people who suffer from this illness called homophobia. There’s a wonderful and simple way of curing these phobia and fears: with an antidote called love.”
The pendulum still swings and we should all be prepared for its return to the right. But we can also anticipate that when the pendulum settles it will be at a place where, as Judge Walker ruled regarding Prop 8, past social mores do not create superior versus inferior relationships under the law.
For more on gay rights in Latin America, check out “Dreaming of Rainbow Sheep” and “Gay Marriage in Latin America: Is Argentina Ahead of the Curve?”
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- Quetzaltrekkers: Into the Clouds, Part 3 - July 5th, 2011
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