Peru's National Board of Justice is investigating a Supreme Court judge for LGBTphobia.

Supreme Court Justice Javier Arévalo Vela called homosexuality an “abnormality” and a “psychological problem” in a public statement.

October 15, 2021

Verónica Ferrari

Presentes Agency Archive

Peru's National Board of Justice, the body responsible for appointing and ratifying judges and prosecutors, and removing those who violate their responsibilities, has decided to open an investigation into Judge Javier Arévalo Vela for making discriminatory comments against the LGBTQ+ community. The judge referred to homosexuality as an "abnormality" and a "psychological problem" during the debate on the inclusion of Rule 4, which considers sexual orientation and gender identity as grounds for vulnerability, in Peru's adherence to the Brasilia Rules.

The “Brasilia Rules on Access to Justice for People in Vulnerable Conditions” are an instrument approved in 2008 at the Ibero-American Judicial Summit, which Peru joined in 2010, and which seeks to ensure that the justice system contributes to reducing social inequalities for the most vulnerable people.

Ten years later, in July 2020, Peru had to approve its adherence to the updated Rules. The task of reviewing the adherence fell to the Executive Council of the Judiciary, which decided to approve it, but with one exception: Rule 4.

The “arguments” used by Judge Arévalo Vela to exclude LGBTQ+ people from the pact, and which convinced the five members of the Executive Council to ratify this decision, were:

“ female genders is admissible ; just as under normal conditions sexual orientation can only be heterosexual, that is, from man to woman (and vice versa).”

“…people who, for psychological or social reasons, have a sexual orientation towards people of their own gender or who identify as part of a sex that, biologically, does not correspond to them.”

“Consequently, sexual orientation and gender identity cannot be considered as causes of vulnerability, because if this were the case, it would mean accepting being male or female, or identifying with such qualities, as a cause of vulnerability.”

More than a year later, on September 3, 2021, the National Board of Justice decided to open a preliminary investigation against Judge Arévalo Vela for allegedly committing an act of discrimination. This was at the request of the organizations DEMUS (Study for the Defense of Women's Rights) and LIFS (Independent Socialist Feminist Lesbians), and as part of the Rainbow Justice campaign, which seeks to combat impunity in cases of discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity affecting the LGBT population in Peru. He was given ten days to respond to the allegations against him.

According to sociologist Sayda Lucas, representative of DEMUS, “the opening of this preliminary investigation is very important from a legal standpoint, but also from a social and symbolic one, because the message is crystal clear: a person in public office who makes discriminatory statements based on people's sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression cannot go unpunished. The National Board of Justice (JNJ) has the opportunity to put a stop to judges who make discriminatory statements or engage in discriminatory acts against LGBTQ+ people.”

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