Paraguay

Paraguay, like many Latin American countries, has made strides in support of LGBTQ+ rights in recent years. President Fernando Lugo (2008-2012) banned discrimination based on sexual identity and reversed the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policies in the police force. Unfortunately, in recent times, the predominately Catholic country has plateaued and, in some cases, regressed in its fight for equality. There are no protections for discrimination based on sexual and gender identities in the constitution of Paraguay and LGBTQ+ citizens do not have the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts. The 2013 presidential election put conservative Horácio Cartes in power and the election in 2018 put Mario Benítez in office, also of the conservative Colorado Party. A social media campaign has emerged, “No Con Mis Hijos” (Not With My Children), which protests homosexuality and laws that would benefit LGBTQ+ people. It is a social movement based on the erroneous idea that its members do not want any homosexual influences around their children for fear that it may make their children homosexual in some way. Conservatives have also contested to education in schools about LGBTQ+ history and identity inclusive curriculum. These protests reached the education minister who promised to “burn the gender ideology textbooks in the streets.” This hostile environment has made it difficult for researchers to gather information and work in Paraguay. For this reason, there is a lack of literature pertaining to the LGBTQ+ population in Paraguay specifically. The government in Paraguay is working to tie procreation to the definition of families, a move which could effectively work to prevent the legalization of gay marriage. Despite these disheartening movements, there are several advocacy groups working for change. Somos Gay and It Gets Better Paraguay provide safe spaces and community for LGBTQ+ young adults and teens. Panambi is another organization working to end stigma and discrimination by defending the rights of trans people in Paraguay and fighting for social inclusion.

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Lubbe C. (2013) LGBT Parents and Their Children: Non-Western Research and Perspectives. In: Goldberg A., Allen K. (eds) LGBT-Parent Families. Springer, New York, NY https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-1-4614-4556-2_14#citeas

Rivas Vera, M. (2015). Sexuality Education in Paraguay: Using Human Rights and International Policies to define adolescents’ right to sexuality education. Retrieved from http://bibliobase.sermais.pt:8008/BiblioNET/Upload/PDF14/010904%20Rivas_Vera_Maria_Jose_J_Tese.pdf

Torales, Julio & Barrios, Iván & Torres, Alexis & Dunjó, Ninfa & Benítez, María & Villalba Arias, Jorge Rodrigo & Ventriglio, Antonio & Bhugra, Dinesh. (2018). Attitude of Medical Students in Paraguay Towards Homosexuality. East Asian Archives of Psychiatry. 28. 101-103. doi: 10.12809/eaap1730