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[Translation of an article from La Jornada of Mexico City for May 3. See original here, and related articles here and here. See an article on the UN resolution on extrajudicial executions here.]

By Gerardo Arreola

Havana, May 2 – Journalist Francisco Rodríguez Cruz, writer of a blog about his life as a homosexual in Cuba, believes that “in professional and ruling circles it is no longer politically correct to be homophobic.”

Within those red circles “homophobia has come to be incorrect, to be frowned upon,” Rodríguez tells La Jornada, describing a new phenomenon on the island.

But he points out that in the average population and in public institutions “there is still much resistance,” which keeps the government from moving forward in its policy of respect for sexual diversity, which it has promoted in recent years. “It is not a question they want to cause annoyance over.”

Just last October, Rodríguez stirred up an intense debate on Facebook by defending legal unions between persons of the same gender and by refuting the postion of the Catholic church.
(more…)

Study shows the country has world’s highest rate of homophobic murders

[Translation of an article from Brasil de Fato for April 6. See original here.]

By Daniella Jinkings

In 2010, 260 gay men, transvestites and lesbians were murdered in Brazil. According to a report by the Grupo Gay da Bahia (GGB) released on Monday, every day and a half a Brazilian homosexual is killed. In the past five years, there has been an increase of 113 percent in the number of murders of homosexuals. In the first three months of 2011 alone, there were 65 murders.

Among the victims, 54 percent were gay men, 42 percent were transvestites and four percent were lesbians. Luiz Mott, the anthropologist responsible for the survey, believes the statistics are smaller than the reality. “Those 260 documented murders are an underreported number, because there are no official hate crime statistics in Brazil. The situation for homosexuals is extremely troubling.” (more…)

[Translations of two articles on recent arrests of gay men in Puebla.]

Police in Puebla round up gays
Five arrested as “a nuisance and a danger to families”

[Translation of an article from La Jornada of Mexico City for March 10. See original here.]

by Javier Puga, América Farías and Arturo Alfaro

Puebla, Puebla, March 9 – Police in this city arrested five homosexuals and sent them before an examining magistrate for the “crime” of “being a nuisance and a danger to the families” who had accused them of practicing prostitution, the secretariat of public security and municipal transit reports.

The homosexuals were arrested by the K-9 Immediate Response Group, made up of elite agents of the municipal police, at the intersection of Bulevar Norte and Avenida 25 Poniente, one of the most important intersections in the capital.

The legal code of the city stipulates a fine equal to 10 to 100 days of the minimum wage, with 36 hours of detention or community service, for persons who “exercise, permit or are patrons of prostitution in public places,” but does not specify as a punishable offense being “a nuisance and a danger to families.” (more…)

[Translation of an article from La Jornada of Mexico City for August 31. See original article here.]

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Cubadebate photo by Alex Castro

by Carmen Lira Saade

Havana – Although he shows no signs of discomfort, I think Fidel is not going to like what I am about to say to him.

“Comandante, all the allure of the Cuban Revolution, the recognition, the solidarity of a large part of the intellectual community of the world, the great achievements of the people in the face of the blockade, in the end, everything, everything went down the drain because of the persecution of homosexuals in Cuba.”

Fidel does not avoid the topic. Nor does he deny or reject the assertion. He only asks for time, he says, to remember how and when prejudice sprang up in the ranks of the revolution. Five decades ago, and because of homophobia, homosexuals were marginalized in Cuba and many, accused of being “counter-revolutionaries,” were sent to military-agricultural work camps. (more…)

[Translation of an article from Revistazo.com of Honduras for May 17.]

By Eleana Borjas

Some 80 countries in the world still have laws against homosexual behavior while in others, with or without laws, people with a preference for their own gender are persecuted, assaulted, and even murdered. Honduras is no exception.

Homophobia is defined as aversion, hatred, prejudice or discrimination against homosexual men or women. This includes bisexual and transexual people and those with outlooks or manners usually associated with the opposite sex.

With the goal of ending attacks on their human rights by a large sector of the world’s population, May 17 has been declared International Day against Homophobia. (more…)