Gay couple kicked out of campsite: “You have to leave because there are children present”

“We were hugging in front of the river, we kissed a few times, and a man who didn't want to identify himself came up to us and told us that what we were doing wasn't right.”

April 23, 2019

By Lucas Gutiérrez

Iván Cuello, a 27-year-old biology teacher, and Nahuel Chaparro, a 26-year-old early childhood education student, went camping in the city of San Pedro (Buenos Aires province) on Friday, April 19th. A few hours later, they were expelled from the "América" campsite due to homophobia. Today, they went to the Institute Against Discrimination of the Ombudsman's Office of the City of Buenos Aires to fill out a form to submit to INADI (National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism).

“We were hugging by the river, we kissed a few times, and a man who wouldn't identify himself approached us and told us that what we were doing wasn't right. He tried to explain how we should be: that we could sit next to each other,” Iván told Presentes. The man told them that other people had complained to the authorities because there were children present.

“According to this employee, those who complained said that all that was missing was for us to have sex,” Iván adds. The couple told him that they weren't doing anything wrong, that they knew how to behave and weren't doing anything out of line, to which this man replied: “If you're not going to change your attitude, you can leave.”

Nahuel Chaparro says that this employee's attitude was anything but helpful: "He came to kick us out in a very aggressive manner; we had no choice but to grab our things and leave." They say that the employee kept reminding them that there were children present.

“Because our kisses are not a crime, because our kisses are not wrong, because our kisses will never go back in the closet, that is why we decided to publicly denounce Camping América,” the couple stated on their social media along with a press release detailing their experience.

Along with the complaint on social media, Iván shared a video where you can hear a conversation with the receptionist: “The person who had kicked us out disappeared, we spoke with the person who had charged us and he told us that we were doing things that were not appropriate.”

Saint Peter's reaction

Iván and Nahuel left with the money they had paid and continued with their plan to enjoy the long weekend, so they checked into another campsite. The next day they returned to Camping América to ask for the contact information of the person who had kicked them out. At that moment, this man was busy attending to other guests. “When he saw us, he went around in circles to avoid us,” and although they managed to speak with him, he still didn't give them any concrete answers. “We asked for the contact information of the people who had complained, and they told us they had already left,” Nahuel told Presentes.

On Monday the 22nd, on the website of the San Pedro newspaper 'La Opinión', the president of Club América said that he had witnessed the couple's behavior and that they had exceeded the limits of acceptable cohabitation.

Sergio 'Tachuela' Bargues says they are not a homophobic club, and that the campsite staff had given them a prior warning.

“None of the people who supposedly came to file a complaint approached us, nor did anyone come to say anything to us, but this man came directly to tell us that we shouldn't be like this and that we should leave,” Iván and Nahuel told Presentes after reading these statements.

A history of transphobia at the campsite

Alexa Pettone is a trans athlete and activist who lives in San Pedro and was recently barred from entering Camping América. She and a photographer friend asked permission to take some photos on the open area, but reception denied them entry: “They told us we couldn’t take photos. ‘We’ll pay your entrance fee, take the photos, and leave,’ but they insisted it wasn’t allowed,” she says.

From San Pedro Diversidad, the organization where Alexa is active, they shared Iván and Nahuel's complaint on social media, joining in the condemnation. The activist explains that acts of discrimination continue in the city: “San Pedro is very conservative. People on the street respect me a lot, but that's because I'm Alexa. My trans friends don't experience the same. Why is it acceptable to tolerate Alexa but not my friends? It's a horrible attitude.”

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