On the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, the La Moneda Palace, along with public and private institutions across the country, will illuminate their facades with the colors of the LGBTQ+ flag. This year, the global day of action focuses on the family. Lesbian activists discuss the outstanding issues facing same-sex couples in Chile. Visibility as a political strategy. By Daniel Rojas, from Santiago, Chile. Photos: Dagne Cobo Buschbeck. The La Moneda Palace, the seat of the Chilean Presidency, will be illuminated on its front facade starting at 7:00 p.m. with the eight colors of the LGBTQ+ flag (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex). This Wednesday marks the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, commemorating May 17, 1990. On that day, the World Health Organization (WHO) removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses. Seventy-three public and private institutions across the country have joined the event. They will raise the flag and illuminate their facades to support respect for diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions. The central theme guiding May 17th this year worldwide is inspired by International Family Equality Day (celebrated on May 15th).

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The Chilean lesbian movement is among those waging a strong battle on family issues. Their struggle includes marriage equality, but also focuses on parental rights, given the legal limbo faced by women who form lesbian-parent families. They also advocate, along with other LGBTI groups, for the criminalization of hate crimes—such as femicide. Presentes spoke with renowned activists for the Chilean lesbian cause about these issues. Same-sex families to the Senate On January 20, during the amicable settlement agreement between the State and the LGBTI community, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet stated that approximately 20,000 Chileans have formalized their relationships through the Civil Union Agreement (AUC). Of that number, 23% are same-sex couples. Chilean Foreign Minister Heraldo Muñoz confirmed that day that a bill on marriage equality would be submitted during the first half of the year. However, for the lesbian organizations Rompiendo el Silencio and VisiBLES, this legal instrument is not among their priorities, although they support it. The lesbian activists assert that, beyond marriage, a legal framework regulating the relationship between same-sex couples and their children is imperative. On April 22, 2016, the organization Familia es Familia, along with VisiBLES, Rompiendo el Silencio, and Corporación Humana, submitted the Bill on Parental Rights to the Senate.

Recognizing lesbian motherhood

After more than a year, the project remains undiscussed. “It’s in the Children’s Committee, made up of many right-wing members of parliament, such as Jacqueline Van Rysselberghe and José Manuel Ossandón, who oppose the issue of diversity. It’s not on the agenda. It has some support from the National Council for Children, and they ask us to raise awareness among the population, to increase media coverage, but it’s moving very slowly,” laments Erika Montecinos, journalist and executive coordinator of the Breaking the Silence movement. Erika Montecinos, Breaking the Silence.  Therefore, the movement seeks to ensure that lesbian motherhood should be recognized under the law“On equal terms, including the adoptive mother. This would also apply to couples who have undergone artificial insemination, where there is no recognized father, and in adoption cases. Our role encompasses everything that happens on the legislative level and in socio-cultural action, which are processes that don't necessarily go hand in hand, but in which we are working hard to promote visibility as a political tool,” emphasizes Gabriela García, psychologist and member of the VisiBLES movement.

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The power of the closet

The spokesperson for Rompiendo el Silencio adds that, in general, lesbians in Chile continue to remain “more hidden.” There are fewer lesbian organizations, or many women prefer to join LGBTI collectives to avoid being directly singled out and “exposed.” For some, it’s a kind of internalized lesbophobia. “It has to do with how we are structured as a society. With a heteropatriarchal foundation, in which women are only now being considered as sexual beings. The lesbian issue is complex.” Heterosexual women, and even feminists, find it difficult to join our cause, for fear of being labeled as lesbians.“,” Montecinos recounts. Gabriela García, from VisiBLES, states that the fear of having their private life exposed, with the consequent discrimination, affects many lesbians, who choose to hide their sexual orientation. “One can feel that sense of revealing something very intimate, when in reality it shouldn’t have that connotation. It creates a personal limitation,” she says. Gabriela García and Josefina Lyon, VisiBLES. 

Workplace inequality

In 2015, the Iguales Foundation and Social Management conducted a research study: the “First Study on Sexual Diversity and Dependent Work.” The results showed that 47.1 percent of lesbians in Chile consider it difficult to find work. due to their sexual orientation. Josefina Lyon, a language teacher and member of VisiBLES, says that in Chile, barriers inherent to the equal development of heterosexual women have been progressively broken down. But the debt remains outstanding for lesbians. “Today, there is still much to be done in this area, from workplace equality to the fear lesbian women have of developing as individuals and as people. We need to demystify certain beliefs and promote the idea that we are all people and have the right to develop socio-emotionally, just like everyone else,” says Lyon. Another unavoidable obstacle to achieving greater visibility, Erika Montecinos points out, is the instability that the lesbian movement has experienced in the country. “The first lesbian organization here was created in 1984 and was called Ayuquelén. Since then, there has been a whole history that has been made invisible, because the lesbian movement has been very unstable over time. In the 1990s there was a lot of activity. Then it disappeared. And then, between 2003 and 2007, there was another resurgence, and now, we, who came together in 2013,” the activist explains.

The prejudice: the “non-women”

Another focal point of the struggle has to do with the urgency of reforming the Anti-Discrimination Law, better known as the Zamudio Law. For Rompiendo El Silencio and VisiBLES, this legal framework is weak because it is reactive, not punitive. “The law only punishes when there is physical aggression. But When there is discrimination in schools or in the media, nothing happens“On the other hand, there is a discussion in Congress about violence against women and they are trying to include a section on street harassment,” explains lawyer Francisca Orrego, from VisiBLES. Francisca Orrego, VisiBLES.  Montecinos recalls that when the law was proposed between 2002 and 2003, the original text included the creation of an Anti-Discrimination Institute like the one in Argentina. The neighboring country has the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism (INADI). However, the proposal never materialized.   “What we need is an eventual law against street harassment or the bill against violence against women, which is being processed in Congress and for which a lot of work needs to be done. Because They don't consider us women, nor do they consider our trans comrades women.“It is also extremely important to classify hate crimes, such as femicide,” the journalist points out. Meanwhile, in contemporary Chile, being a lesbian is more than a difficulty; it is a daily struggle between being a woman, being recognized for loving women, and fighting politically for that love.