A View to the Political Participation of Lgbti People
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A VIEW TO THE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF LGBTI PEOPLE IN POLITICAL PARTIES AND MOVEMENTS IN COLOMBIA 2 A VIEW TO THE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF LGBTI PEOPLE in political parties and movements in Colombia Corporación Caribe Afirmativo Gay & Lesbian Victory Institute Observatorio de Participación Política de personas LGBTI en Colombia Con el apoyo de: National Endowment for Democracy. Friedch-Eberth-Stiftung Colombia. 3 A view to the political participation of LGBTI people in movements and political parties in Colombia - 2014 2016. © Corporación Caribe Afirmativo. © Gay & Lesbian Victory Institute www.caribeafirmativo.lgbt Researchers: Research assistants Alexander Pérez Álvarez Brenda Cecilia Eguis Professor at the University of Cartagena Luis Gerardo Maza Observatory of Political Participation / Alexánder Reina Otero Caribe Afirmativo Political Scientist, Adviser to the Caribe Afirmativo research group Design and layout Melissa Monroy Political Scientist, Caribe Afirmativo Carlos Insignares Cuello Luis Abolafia Director of International Programs Victory Institute Wilson Castañeda Castro Director, Caribe Afirmativo 4 A VIEW TO THE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF LGBTI PEOPLE in political parties and movements in Colombia Supported by 5 Table of Contents Presentation.......................................................................................................................... 8 Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 10 Research methodology.................................................................................................................. 12 Document structure....................................................................................................................... 14 1. The LGBTI agenda strengthens political parties and deepens democracy............................ 15 The LGBTI population, a new social - electoral niche............................................................... 16 The political parties and the new political - institutional context........................................... 21 The sexual diversity discourse, an innovation............................................................................ 23 2. Contextualizing Political Participation in Colombia........................................................... 26 Bipartisanship, Constitution of 1991, and Social Rule of Law Emergence............................... 27 The LGBTI people’s political participation in Latin America.....................................................29 Approach to the LGBTI movement history in Colombia............................................................ 33 León Zuleta and Manuel Velandia Leaderships.......................................................................... 35 Lesbian women and their activism in Colombia........................................................................ 35 The voices that awaken with the Constitution of 1991.............................................................. 36 Planeta Paz..................................................................................................................................... 37 The beggining of partisan participation......................................................................................38 3. Political parties in Colombia: Definition, structure and level of inclusion of LGBTI issues in their statutes and programs...................................................................................................39 Ideological and programmatic platforms of political parties in Colombia regarding LGBTI issues.............................................................................................................................................. 40 Bill 1475 of 2011 Bill on political parties and movements........................................................ 48 Comparison of Colombian political parties in relation to the topic of LGBTI........................ 51 Emblematic cases of political participation of LGBTI people in Colombia............................. 53 Good practices of the political parties for the inclusion and encouraging the participation of LGBTI people in Colombia............................................................................................................ 56 The voice of the parties................................................................................................................. 62 4. LGBTI individuals’ perceptions on political participation.................................................. 70 5. Voice of Experience in political participation for LGBTI people (Conversation and analysis with LGBTI leaders who have participated in politics)................................................................... 80 Recommendations for openly LGBTI campaigns that rise from the experience of LGBTI activists who have participated in politics.................................................................................................85 Beginning of LGBTI political participation in Colombia...........................................................86 6 Openly LGBTI Campaign Experiences (Congress of the Republic, 2014)................................90 Comparative Chart on Experience of Openly LGBT Candidates...............................................90 Comparative Chart of distinguished LGBTI Candidates in Colombia......................................93 Positioning of the Agenda............................................................................................................93 Voto por Igualdad Campaign (Vote for Equality).......................................................................94 6. Recommendations for good practices within political parties and movements.................100 Recommendations........................................................................................................................101 Organized Innovation.................................................................................................................. 101 Environment Assimilation.......................................................................................................... 101 Preparing for international changes.......................................................................................... 102 Post Conflict Challenges.............................................................................................................. 103 Achieving Reconciliation..............................................................................................................103 More Democracy........................................................................................................................... 105 Rules of good practices for political parties in regards to affirmative actions for the guarantee of LGBTI people’s rights.............................................................................................................. 105 The five action routes for the inclusion of LGBTI people and agendas...................................106 7 Presentation The origin of modern democracy in the Western world had an excluding nature, in which the so-called minority population groups– including all who were not men, heterosexual, white, aristocrats, and erudite – started being categorized as inferior since it was considered that their distinctive features distanced them from real citizenship; a situation that was originally denounced by women, who during many years were not recognized as eligible for political rights, and whose representation, in spite of being the majority percentage of population, is still affected and reduced today, in spite of the multiple efforts made towards gender equality in political practice. Laws, round tables, and recommendations from the highest strategic political spheres have called attention to this expression of inequality. However, as of today, the system has not yet addressed non-discrimination as a Human Right, despite of being formally established within the majority of the legislative branches. It seems that this practice has been instated in the political culture, in which –historically- men have been the main characters. Although in some Western cultures the acceptance of preconceived roles for men and women is being increasingly reduced, a patriarchal imaginary still remains at a political level where diversity does not appear as an added value of democracy but, on the contrary, as an obstacle or imperfection for the democratic exercise. The petition that women started over fifty (50) years ago followed by African descent groups in the Western world, whose fierce work still influences the “ranking” of equality within political participation 8 scenarios from electoral processes to constitutional agendas in the Constitutional political party structures and government Court and its sentences in favor of Rights. processes, continues today with the actions As well as the writ for the protection of of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans and fundamental rights, the enforcement of intersex people. And their struggle for constitutional obligations to equality (art recognition has helped them get closer to 13), and to the free development of the exercise of a full citizenship that arises personality (art 17) encouraged by citizens from the full exercise of Rights and is who had realized that bills in the Congress materialized in the real, formal and informal were not fruitful and wanted to motivate