#peru lgbtq+

[dandelionsresilience]

Good News - June 15-21

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $Kaybarr1735! And if you tip me and give me a way to contact you, at the end of the month I'll send you a link to all of the articles I found but didn't use each week!

1. Victory for Same-Sex Marriage in Thailand

��Thailand’s Senate voted 130-4 today to pass a same-sex marriage bill that the lower house had approved by an overwhelming majority in March. This makes Thailand the first country in Southeast Asia, and the second in Asia, to recognize same-sex relationships. […] The Thai Marriage Equality Act […] will come into force 120 days after publication in the Royal Gazette. It will stand as an example of LGBT rights progress across the Asia-Pacific region and the world.”

2. One of world’s rarest cats no longer endangered

“[The Iberian lynx’s] population grew from 62 mature individuals in 2001 to 648 in 2022. While young and mature lynx combined now have an estimated population of more than 2,000, the IUCN reports. The increase is largely thanks to conservation efforts that have focused on increasing the abundance of its main food source - the also endangered wild rabbit, known as European rabbit. Programmes to free hundreds of captive lynxes and restoring scrublands and forests have also played an important role in ensuring the lynx is no longer endangered.”

3. Planning parenthood for incarcerated men

“[M]any incarcerated young men missed [sex-ed] classroom lessons due to truancy or incarceration. Their lack of knowledge about sexual health puts them at a lifelong disadvantage. De La Cruz [a health educator] will guide [incarcerated youths] in lessons about anatomy and pregnancy, birth control and sexually transmitted infections. He also explores healthy relationships and the pitfalls of toxic masculinity. […] Workshops cover healthy relationships, gender and sexuality, and sex trafficking.”

4. Peru puts endemic fog oasis under protection

“Lomas are unique ecosystems relying on marine fog that host rare and endemic plants and animal species. […] The Peruvian government has formally granted conservation status to the 6,449-hectare (16,000-acre) desert oasis site[….] The site, the first of its kind to become protected after more than 15 years of scientific and advocacy efforts, will help scientists understand climatic and marine cycles in the area[, … and] will be protected for future research and exploration for at least three decades.”

5. Religious groups are protecting Pride events — upending the LGBTQ+ vs. faith narrative

“In some cases, de-escalation teams stand as a physical barrier between protesters and event attendees. In other instances, they try to talk with protesters. The goal is generally to keep everyone safe. Leigh was learning that sometimes this didn’t mean acting as security, but doing actual outreach. That might mean making time and space to listen to hate speech. It might mean offering food or water. […] After undergoing Zoom trainings this spring, the members of some 120 faith organizations will fan out across more than 50 Pride events in 16 states to de-escalate the actions of extremist anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups.”

6. 25 years of research shows how to restore damaged rainforest

“For the first time, results from 25 years of work to rehabilitate fire-damaged and heavily logged rainforest are now being presented. The study fills a knowledge gap about the long-term effects of restoration and may become an important guide for future efforts to restore damaged ecosystems.”

7. Audubon and Grassroots Carbon Announce First-of-its-Kind Partnership to Reward Landowners for Improving Habitats for Birds while Building Healthy Soils

“Participating landowners can profit from additional soil carbon storage created through their regenerative land management practices. These practices restore grasslands, improve bird habits, build soil health and drive nature-based soil organic carbon drawdown through the healthy soils of farms and ranches. […] Additionally, regenerative land management practices improve habitats for birds. […] This partnership exemplifies how sustainable practices can drive positive environmental change while providing tangible economic benefits for landowners.”

8. Circular food systems found to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, require much less agricultural land

“Redesigning the European food system will reduce agricultural land by 44% while dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture by 70%. This reduction is possible with the current consumption of animal protein. “Moreover, animals are recyclers in the system. They can recycle nutrients from human-inedible parts of the organic waste and by-products in the food system and convert them to valuable animal products," Simon says.”

9. Could Treating Injured Raptors Help Lift a Population? Researchers found the work of rehabbers can have long-lasting benefits

“[“Wildlife professionals”] tend to have a dismissive attitude toward addressing individual animal welfare,” [… but f]or most raptor species, they found, birds released after rehabilitation were about as likely to survive as wild birds. Those released birds can have even broader impacts on the population. Back in the wild, the birds mate and breed, raising hatchlings that grow up to mate and breed, too. When the researchers modeled the effects, they found most species would see at least some population-level benefits from returning raptors to the wild.”

10. Indigenous people in the Amazon are helping to build bridges & save primates

“Working together, the Reconecta Project and the Waimiri-Atroari Indigenous people build bridges that connect the forest canopy over the BR-174 road[….] In the first 10 months of monitoring, eight different species were documented — not only monkeys such as the golden-handed tamarin and the common squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus), but also kinkajous (Potos flavus), mouse opossums (Marmosops sp.), and opossums (Didelphis sp.).”

Bonus: A rare maneless zebra was born in the UK

June 8-14 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[queerasfact]

Felices Fiestas Patrias! July 28 is Peruvian Independence Day, so here's a cool piece of Peruvian history to help you celebrate the day.

These little statues are ceramics made by the Moche people of first-millennium Peru. For a long time, conservative scholars weren't willing to talk about them because so many of them show all different types of sex: anything from sex between monkeys to sex between skeletons to monkey-skeleton-sex, and a whole bunch of stuff that seems pretty queer. On the left is two men embracing - for a long time scholars categorised this as a depiction of conjoined twins, despite it looking the same as a bunch of other pots identified as people embracing! On the right is our personal favourite - a skeleton cuddling his human boyfriend.

It’s difficult to be sure what the Moche had in mind when making these erotic pots, and we can’t say for certain how they would have understood gender or sexuality. But it does seem that they depict not just male-male sex, but also trans or non-binary people, who wear what modern scholars understand as a mix of masculine and feminine clothing and hairstyles.

If you want to learn more, check out our podcast on queerness in Moche ceramics!

[Image source: Janusz Z. Wołoszyn and Katarzyna Piwowar’s “Sodomites, Siamese Twins, and Scholars: Same-Sex Relationships in Moche Art” in American Anthropologist, Vol. 117, No. 2 (2015), p.288]

[liiiiilith]

¿Cómo así?

[r3n0-5]

I would love to be able to exist for five whole seconds without my life being a debate topic, srsly.

The government of the country I’m currently (sadly) living in said another incredible joke, like a month ago, that transgender people are mentally ill. I’m not surprised; I’m mentally ill, but not because I’m transgender, that’s neither the reason nor the cause. I’m actually used to these kinds of statements, it’s everyday for trans people. The only thing I’m mad about is that I’m finding out right now, so late. I was occupied dying, otherwise, I would’ve been where all my trans fellas were protesting in front of a government facility, the one that was responsible for that damn law.

The law that the government of Peru passed classified all trans identities as mentally ill so they could receive medical attention; that’s what they excused themselves with, using a 1992 manual. In the current version of the same manual, you can see that we are no longer a mental illness, thank God, but at the same time all that shit was happening, me, a trans person, was physically ill. I found it ironic. I didn’t want to go to any public hospital because I know how bad the attention at those places can be, and you see why. I didn’t want to be mistreated all day; I didn’t want to have to explain how I was feeling and ask if I was pregnant or something similar. Getting called by my dead name is an experience I want to avoid, and not only that. If I had an emergency (which I had), I wouldn’t be attended, which actually happened to me the last time I went to one of those hospitals the government built. I got there being incapable of breathing; I almost had a heart attack, and no one did shit. So I stayed at home, having the same symptoms, but knowing that a basic need like medical attention is impossible to get in this country, I said, “If I’m going to die, at least I prefer to die at home,” so I did my best to use my lungs. I calmed down and took some pills at that time, and now I’m fine. I believe I’m feeling fine. I don’t have insurance, I don’t have money for that; I can barely feed my cats and myself. Most people in this damn country can’t afford insurance, and I include myself in that. The minimum wage is less than $300, and my partner earns even less than that. I can’t work anywhere (believe me, I tried for a while) because I'm neurodivergent, and even if I did, those almost 300 dollars wouldn’t be enough for me to get some decent medical attention. Basically, living in this country is like hell. I don’t believe the government had any good intention of passing that law. They never cared about transgender people; they never cared about poor people; they never cared about old people; they never cared about homeless people; they only cared about money. This country as a whole is so transphobic, homophobic, and anti-LGBTQIA+ that sure, they did what they did, knowing what it meant. I hope I don’t feel like this again, so I can do something about this situation. For now, what I can do is at least express how I’m feeling while I’m recovering and never shut up. I won’t stop fighting, no matter what. I won’t stop being myself, no matter what. Say what you want about trans people and approve the stupid laws you want; that won’t change a bit who we are. We keep existing, and I’ll do my best to continue living.

-R3N0

[l0n4t1csfan65]

some copa america lgbtq hcs and plz dont kill me

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Michael K. Lavers at The Washington Blade:

The Peruvian government on May 10 published a decree that classifies transgender people as mentally ill. Human Rights Watch on Wednesday noted the country’s Essential Health Insurance Plan that President Dina Boluarte, Health Minister César Vásquez and Economic and Finance Minister José Arista signed references “ego-dystonic sexual orientation.” The decree also notes, among other things, “transsexualism” and “gender identity disorder in childhood. Human Rights Watch in its press release notes the Health Ministry subsequently said it does not view LGBTQ identities as “illnesses.” Peruvian LGBTQ advocacy groups, however, have sharply criticized the decree.

The Peruvian government issued a hateful and bigoted decree that baselessly declares trans, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary people to be “mentally ill.”

See Also:

The Advocate: Rep. Robert Garcia calls out Peru for classifying trans, intersex & nonbinary people as mentally ill

[angelx1992]

[lolastarperu]

Camino hacia mi propio yo

Escribir mi historia no es sencillo. No quiero sonar narcisista, pero sé que, en algún momento, habría dado cualquier cosa por leer y formar parte de lo que estoy a punto de contarles.

Nací en una provincia mágica del Perú llamada Huánuco, un valle encantado entre la sierra y la selva. Imaginen un lugar donde los colores vibran y el cielo te hace soñar de día y noche. Así era Huánuco cuando nací, una ciudad conservadora, manejada por familias de renombre, donde las diferencias entre las clases sociales eran tan evidentes como la luz del día y la oscuridad de la noche. Era 1996, un año que ahora parece lejano. Mi bisabuelo, un hombre de férrea voluntad y vastas tierras, se hizo próspero, y en medio de ese éxito, un 8 de febrero, llegué yo al mundo. Fui recibidx con los brazos abiertos por papá, mamá, bisabuelos, dos abuelas y más de 15 tíos. Una estrella naciente en un firmamento repleto de historias.

Mis padres eran jóvenes artistas, unidos por su pasión por la danza peruana. Se enamoraron entre giros y pasos, y en una de sus giras por el Perú, me concibieron. Como muchos artistas, enfrentaron la falta de apoyo familiar, pero su amor fue una llama que nunca se extinguió, a pesar de los altibajos. Sin embargo, la vida no siempre es un cuento de hadas. A los 12 años, mi mundo se desmoronó cuando mi padre tuvo una relación extramatrimonial y nos dejó. Fue la gota que rebalsó el vaso de muchas tensiones acumuladas.

Mi madre fue mi guía y mi inspiración, mi propia Carrie Bradshaw antes de saber quién era ese icónico personaje de Sex and the City. Ella es mi ícono de la moda, y hoy puedo decir con orgullo que compartimos una visión única de la vida. Con su baile, su trabajo, su empatía y su luz, me sacó adelante. Gracias, mamá.

Terminé la escuela católica y, a los 17 años, tenía dos destinos posibles: la Universidad del Pacífico y la UPC. Ya en Lima, estudiando comunicaciones en la UPC, descubrí la intensidad de mi pasión por el arte. Mi amor por la moda me llevó a crear un blog, desafiando normas y escribiendo sobre lo que otros no se atrevían. Todo iba viento en popa, hasta que la vida nos recordó su naturaleza impredecible. La pandemia de COVID-19 en 2019, combinada con mi transición, me llevó a terapia psicológica obligada. Dejé de escribir, ahogada por mis propios pensamientos.

A fines de noviembre de 2019, justo antes de que la pandemia cambiara nuestras vidas, ocurrió algo mágico. Cinco hadas cruzaron mi camino, convirtiéndome en la princesa que siempre quise ser. Rodeada de princesas toda mi vida, finalmente mis súplicas fueron escuchadas. Luna, Faggy, Rogue, Blue y Alice me transformaron en: Lola Star.

[2019: Lola regresa a Huánuco y la pandemia se lleva a su mejor amigo y mentor, además de a su única tía LGBT, Melissa, víctima de cáncer.]

Recuerdo como un destello la primera fiesta donde me presentaron como “la primera drag queen de Huánuco”. Fue alucinante, pero cada vez el desafío era mayor tanto en mi arte como en el día a día. Demostrar mi arte se convirtió en mi forma de canalizar sentimientos que no podía expresar de otro modo. Lola brilló y conquistó una ciudad que me recibió con los brazos abiertos. Nuestra comunidad Pride se convirtió en una familia. “Pueblo pequeño, familia grande”. Junto a mi primo, creamos una familia y, sin darnos cuenta, una pequeña revolución.

Pero la vida, con sus matices, también se tornó gris. La depresión regresó con fuerza, el suicidio rondaba mis noches más oscuras. La pérdida de mi mejor amigo y mi tía en COVID dejó una herida profunda. Huánuco ya no era el refugio de antes. Catástrofes se sucedieron, pero Lola Star, al timón de la embarcación, nunca se rindió.

Entre luces y sombras, me reencontré. Entre tantos reflectores y oscuridades, renací. Con otro nombre quizá, pero mi esencia permaneció intacta. Los nombres, los lugares y los coprotagonistas pueden cambiar, pero yo siempre seré yo.

Sé fiel a tu esencia, no te rindas y deja que Dios haga el resto.

Canción recomendada luego de leer este post:

[beepbeepdespair]

microdosing on being a gay disaster by holding the door open for my crush, prompting her to say the first word she's ever spoken to me

[hesterias]

Well, the government of Peru can go fuck themselves.

[misiosamarillos]

[liiiiilith]

[esqrever]

Peru avança na despatologização das pessoas trans: Um marco para o fim do estigma

A decisão foi influenciada por manifestações em Lima, onde centenas de pessoas exigiram a revogação de uma lei obsoleta e discriminatória. Peru avança na despatologização das pessoas trans: Um marco para o fim do estigma 🏳️‍⚧️🇵🇪

O governo do Peru anunciou uma importante mudança pelo fim da despatologização das pessoas trans: a transexualidade deixará de ser considerada uma doença mental. Esta decisão foi influenciada por manifestações em Lima, onde centenas de pessoas exigiram a revogação de uma lei obsoleta e discriminatória. Até agora, a lei peruana classificava pessoas trans como tendo uma doença mental, permitindo…

[angelx1992]

[sleepysera]

12.16.22 Headlines

WORLD NEWS

Malaysia: Landslide at campground kills 21, leaves 12 missing (AP)

“A thunderous crush of soil and debris killed 21 people at a campground in Malaysia on Friday, and rescuers dug through the mud in the night for another 12 who were feared buried in the landslide. More than 90 people were sleeping on an organic farm when the dirt tumbled from a road about 30 meters (100 feet) above the site and covered about 1 hectare (3 acres).”

Ukraine: Stalemate sets stage for possible winter escalation (AP)

“With the war in Ukraine grinding through its 10th month, both sides are locked in a stalemated battle of attrition, which could set the stage for a new round of escalation. Many observers see the current deadlock as beneficial to Ukraine, allowing it to receive more state-of-the-art weapons from the West and prepare for new counteroffensives. In Russia, there is a growing sense of desperation among hard-liners about what they see as President Vladimir Putin’s hesitancy and lack of a clear strategy.”

Peru: Ministers quit as death toll mounts in protests (BBC)

“Two government ministers have quit their posts in Peru after days of sometimes violent protests over the impeachment of the former president. Officials say eight more people died on Thursday during clashes between the army and supporters of Pedro Castillo. Meanwhile, thousands of tourists are trapped in the city of Cusco after protesters forced the airport to close.”

US NEWS

Puerto Rico: House approves referendum to ‘decolonize’ Puerto Rico (AP)

“The U.S. House passed a bill Thursday that would allow Puerto Rico to hold the first-ever binding referendum on whether to become a state or gain some sort of independence, in a last-ditch effort that stands little chance of passing the Senate. The bill, which passed 233-191 with some Republican support, would offer voters in the U.S. territory three options: statehood, independence or independence with free association.”

July 4 Shooting: Father of suspect charged with 7 felonies (AP)

“The father of an Illinois man charged with killing seven people in a mass shooting at a July 4 parade in a Chicago suburb has been charged with seven felony counts of reckless conduct, prosecutors announced Friday. Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said Robert Crimo Jr. surrendered to police on Friday and will have a bond hearing Saturday. Rinehart said the charges are based on Crimo sponsoring his then 19-year-old son’s application for a gun license in 2019.”

Gay Night Club Shooting: Minnesota man was making arsenal, revered mass shooters (AP)

“A Minnesota man who idolized the shooter who killed five people at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs and was allegedly building an arsenal of automatic weapons to use against police was arrested this week after a retired police officer reported his behavior to authorities, according to federal charges.”