Sexual Politics and Religious Actors in Argentina

MARIO PECHENY; DANIEL JONES; LUCÍA ARIZA

Washington DC

Workshop; American University Workshop on religion, gender, and the environment; 2014

American University

The paper analyses sexual politics in Argentina in relation to the public participation of religious actors. Sexual politics has become a critical field of struggles about the role of religion in the Argentinean liberal-democratic regime, while gender and sexuality have been the main political targets of religious institutions since the 1980s and 1990s. In this context, progressive legislation on sexual and reproductive rights was passed, including same-sex marriage and the recognition of transgender identities, despite the opposition of the Catholic Church. In particular, the domestic role of Argentine Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio, who led in Argentina the opposition to sexual rights in the 2000s and was elected Catholic Pope in 2013, is described and analysed. El texto que presentamos en dicho seminario fue enviado a referato y está en proceso de evaluación para su eventual publicación.