Being LGB in Argentina

JORDI DIEZ; MARIO PECHENY

Worldwide Perspectives on Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals

Praeger

Año: 2021; p. 403 - 416

Latin America is at the forefront of sexual rights. Since the mid-1990s,numerous countries in the region have advanced a variety of rights to sexual andgender minorities, which include the decriminalization of same-sex relationships in allHispanophone and Lusophone countries;, the enactment of legislation and the reform ofconstitutions that bar discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, and theadoption of civil unions and marriage for same-sex couples. Yet, the sexual-rightslandscape is highly heterogeneous: while whereas some countries have made strongstrides toward the extension of these rights, others have stagnated, or even regressed.There exists, then, a wide spectrum in the expansion of lLesbian, gGay, and bBisexual(LGB) rights across Latin American countries. Argentina is placed at the mostprogressive end of that spectrum. Along with Uruguay, Argentina has extendednumerous civil, political, and identity rights to its LGB population, and it is widelyconsidered to be one of the most advanced. 1 Indeed, Argentina has been at theforefront of the extension of many of these rights, a phenomenon that has largely beenthe result of a well-organized LGB movement, which is the oldest in the region, as wellas the absence of any relevant religious-based party able to block policy reform.However, as in many other countries in the region, there exists a gap between theextension of formal rights and the treatment of LGB citizens: despite their de jureprotection, harassment and bullying are still experienced by LGB people, and, in somecases, hatred has resulted in their killingmurder. The complete elimination ofdiscrimination and violence against LGB citizen remains unfinished business inArgentina.