In Argentina, harassment causes suicide and Chile protests police assault on gay student

Image via Wikipedia

Source: AG magazine
 
The Federación Arg LGBT (FALGBT, Argentina LGBT Federation) is concerned about recent reports of violence against lesbians, gays and transgender people. And activists in Chile want clarification of what happened with a detained gay Chilean living in Argentina.

The group says that harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity was crucial in two cases of suicide and police abuse in a third.

Near La Rioja, on 16 April, a teenager took the tragic decision to commit suicide after suffering homophobic bullying, teasing and violence in the town of Chepes Rioja.

More recently, on April 27, a transgender woman hanged herself in the Cerro San Bernardo on the outskirts of the city of Salta, having fled her home.

A young Chilean student, Maximiliano Sepúlveda, is reported as having experienced coercion, brutal police assault, illegal detention and sexual assault by other prisoners in Oberá.

The President of FALGBT, Esteban Paulone, said:

"We are seriously concerned about the various situations that we have learned over the last few days. Obviously the urgent need to implement public policies throughout the country, to respond to a reality of violence and harassment they have an important part of our collective."

He also said:

"The passage of the Equal Marriage Act meant a huge breakthrough in terms of rights, but much remains to be done. We must move forward on programs and activities that offer guarantees, security and integrity to the LGBT people and this is achieved by the state actions at all levels to urgently repair the high rights violations experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans."

The Movimiento de Integración y Liberación Homosexual (Movilh, Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation of Chile) has made ​​representations to their country's foreign ministry requesting that the Argentine authorities source reliable information on the allegations by the student about what happened to him.

"We appreciate the speed with which Mr. Gonzalez [director of the Human Rights Directorate of the Chilean Foreign Ministry] is taking this case and, in particular, which will assist our compatriots in the neighboring country," said President Movilh, Rolando Jiménez.