In Lima, there were Kisses for Diversity events despite the police intervention.
Text and photos: Esteban Marchand. Around 50 activists gathered this Saturday around Lima's Plaza de Armas for the public kiss-in 'Kisses for Diversity' in a country where there is no law on same-sex marriage or gender identity. In 2017, a bill was introduced proposing…
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Text and photos: Esteban Marchand
Around 50 activists gathered this Saturday near Lima's Plaza de Armas for the public kiss-in "Kisses for Diversity" in a country where there is no law on same-sex marriage or gender identity. A bill proposing to amend Article 234 of the Civil Code (which currently defines marriage as "the union voluntarily entered into by a man and a woman legally capable of doing so") was introduced in 2017 but is stalled in Congress.
[READ ALSO: #Peru 20 couples symbolically married on Valentine's Day]
Formerly called "Kisses Against Homophobia," this event takes place on the Saturday closest to Valentine's Day. In 2011, police violently repressed activists who attempted to kiss in the Plaza de Armas. The same thing happened again in 2016.
At three in the afternoon, the Plaza de Armas was closed and the police officers gave no explanation.
“There are more expressions of love than heterosexual love, and this is a way to demonstrate our rights. But we found the Plaza de Armas closed, and it’s more than clear that it’s because we organized to show our affection and love during the month of February,” LGBTIQ activist Jheinser Pacaya told Presentes.
All guarantees?
“The Security Management (Colonel Augusto Vega), the Inspection Management, and the President of the Events Commission (Gloria Corvacho) were informed of the activity. They were informed, and I explained the purpose and objective of the activity to them. They assured me that they would guarantee the safety of the participants. It was the Police who determined that the Plaza should be closed for this event,” stated Manuel Sicca.
[READ ALSO: #Peru: The ideology of hate against the LGBTIQ community]
Activist and Demus representative María Isabel Sedano pointed out that not only is the right to free movement being denied, but the right of LGBTQ+ people to express themselves freely is also being violated.
“We have the right to express who we are and our expressions of affection publicly, yet they are not allowing us to. They have told us that the Plaza is closed because there is a 'gay pride march.' They are not only violating my civil right to be a lesbian, but they are also prohibiting my freedom of assembly and freedom of movement.”
Everything was proceeding normally until a group of workers from the area closest to the Plaza de Armas appeared with signs that read “Let us work.” There were some altercations between activists and workers. “People are complaining to us as if we had closed the plaza. Don’t they see that it was the police who closed the plaza?” said a representative from the organization.
However, the altercations did not escalate, and after reading a statement, the group of activists decided to march along Jirón de la Unión to Plaza San Martín.
“Love makes us free, it protects us. Love is as diverse as you, as me, as everyone. We want to continue loving, loving our peers, loving our resources, loving our lands. We do not want our love to continue being used as an excuse for the violence to which we are exposed,” part of the statement read.
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