Last week, the government of Colombia and the FARC guerrilla movement signed a peace agreement that ended 50 years of armed conflict in this Latin American country. This agreement acknowledges explicitly the pain inflicted on several groups, including LGBTI people. The document includes a clear mandate to increase political participation and citizen engagement of the LGBTI population. Victory and its partner in Colombia, Caribe Afirmativo, will be holding an event with political parties tomorrow – Thursday, September 1. Parties will receive a briefing with specific recommendations on how to implement those peace agreement’s provisions.
A group of elected and appointed LGBTQ officials who took part on Victory’s trainings in Colombia –including the first openly gay mayor in Colombia, Julián Bedoya, Darla Cristina González, a transgender appointee at the Regional Government of Nariño, and Carolina Giraldo, a bisexual City Councilor in the city of Pereira – will be meeting with representatives from the major political parties in the country. Senators Claudia López, Roy Barrera, and Antonio Navarro Wolff, and Congresswoman Angelica Lozano will also attend the event. The event is aimed at helping the parties understand the importance of engaging LGBTI people in order to consolidate the peace process.
This forum is being organized by the ‘Observatorio de Participación Política de Personas LGBTI en Colombia’ (LGBTI Political Participation Watchdog in Colombia), an initiative created by Victory Institute and Caribe Afirmativo, in collaboration with FESCOL, NDI and NIMD.
UPDATE: The meeting was successful and parties plan to meet in the coming weeks to further discuss implementation of the recommendations. Some of the tweets from the day are below.
‘Parties’ acknowledgement of LGBTQ people deepen their role building democracy’ -Julian Bedoya first #gay mayor #Colombia
‘It’s difficult to get endorsed in the regions, parties don’t accept LGBTQ leaders’ Carolina Giraldo, bisexual city councilor Pereira #Colombia
‘LGBTQ had to be really creative during our campaigns, as parties won’t provide us with any resources’ Wber Zapata, Comptroler Antioquia Regional Government
‘Numbers don’t lie: #LGBTQ people are running for office more than ever’ Darla Cristina González, LGBTQ Focal Point Nariño Regional Government
Julian Bedoya, gay mayor #Colombia ‘we should show that voting for LGBTQ people is worthy, we can transform the reality’
