Tuesday: Homophobia Sucks

 I spent a lot of today doing research about homophobic violence in Peru for the Lima gay pride parade. This year will be the 10th year in a row that there has been an LGBT march in Lima, which is pretty amazing considering the estimate that one non-straight Peruvian is murdered every 5 days. Inppares is quite involved in the gay pride parade because there is nothing healthy about homophobia or traditional masculinity, and a lot of clinics have a stake in the health of the LGBT community. Much like in the US, HIV/AIDS hits the gay community the hardest in Peru and for the same fear-and-discrimination-fueled reasons: lack of information and awareness, lack of openness and communication, lack of self-care and self-esteem, sexual violence due to mental health issues that are unaddressed such as internalized homophobia, lack of access to partners outside of a tight-knit network because many people are still in the closet, and the list goes on. Not just any public health issue but one of the greatest challenges both for the sake of the whole population and the sake of each individual who suffers from the effects of homophobia.

Anyway, my discoveries were surprising. I had read the other day that the MACHO project from Inppares and The Peruvian Masculinities Network had organized a Kisses Against Homophobia event in the Plaza de San Martin in Central Lima. I thought, oh, that´s cute and neat, because at UNC we do the same thing in the Pit every so often. Peaceful protesters kiss people of the same sex and others hold up posters about how homophobia is damaging to society, and that´s it. But in February, when this event was held in Lima, Peruvian special forces police attacked the protesters, beating, kicking, pepper-spraying, and hitting people with batons. Several people were sent to the hospital, including one young woman who needed ten stitches in her head. I also read that the protesters had started away from the Cathedral, but the police pushed them towards the Cathedral so there would be more of an excuse to attack them, claiming they were provoking and offending church-goers. My coworkers know a lot of the people involved because this was an Inppares event.

This is a video of the attack. At 0:26, my friend and coworker Andre Luis is pushed repeatedly by the police while he´s just peacefully hugging his partner. 

The police. Just a few months ago. What is going to happen at the gay pride march on July 2nd? Thousands are expected to attend. After the police violence, the mayor of Lima and the president of Peru condemned the violence and emphasized that peaceful protesting and demonstrations in Peru is a part of Peruvians´ human rights. Another Kisses Against Homophobia event was held a week later and declared a success with no violence and a higher turnout, even calling it a party that lasted until nighttime. The slogan for the event was ¨Because being gay is not a crime.¨ Additionally, a Holding Hands Against Homophobia event was held in May, designed to include straight supporters and to remember gay victims of the Nazi Holocaust. Two days later was the International Day against Homophobia was honored on May 17th, with which Inppares was also involved. As dangerous as all of this is, I am really proud to be working for this organization and am even considering coming back after graduation or possibly for a career. 


I also collected a number of images and phrases for posters about healthy masculinity for a local university. This is just a rough idea because we´ll need more memorable phrases for a public health campaign to really work, but a few examples of the idea: a good man is not afraid to express tenderness to his children or affection to his male friends, a good man protects himself and his partners by using condoms, a good man never rapes, a good man doesn´t let his friends cat-call at women in the streets, a good man supports his wife in planning their family with contraception, a good man reads to his children, etc.

For lunch I got take-out at the restaurant next to Inppares. My appetizer was causa with chicken and avocado (palta, not aguacate), which was amazing. Causa is like a Peruvian choclo/corn dough formed into either a roll shape or a lasagna-type layer. This is the overhead view.

The main dish was thick noodles with green sauce that tasted like pesto but different, and a meat that I cannot identify but its color indicates it probably came from a cow, and it likely came from a cow organ that Americans don´t usually eat. It was a little too rich for me. Limenos really do love their salt and spices, but so far not too many things have been hot-spicy.

During lunch, we crammed 10 or 11 people into a tiny room with a tiny table, as usual. It´s a really friendly work environment here. Jaikel brought Inca Kola for all of us. <3 I have never liked a soda enough to drink it more than once, but I really love Inca Kola. It's so sweet and the color makes me feel like I'm drinking gold. :D

People at Inppares frequently read the newspapers at lunch. Even in this tiny space at some points we had 5 people reading different papers and discussing the news and the papers over the tiny table. I am always grateful when people explain the stories to me in more detail because I can´t understand all of the vocabulary.

During my workday, I looked out the window and saw a man working on the electric wires. He didn't even have gloves on, let alone a sturdy ladder or a safety harness.

I have been particularly captivated by the protests in Puno, on the Bolivia border, which have been going on for weeks. The Aymaras, an indigenous group in the south of Peru, are blocking roads, shutting down businesses  and government buildings, and at times even damaging property in their protests of the mining contracts scheduled for the south of Puno. (Although the protesters argue that the violence was done by the opposition, I do not know who did it.) Environmental assessments have evidence that these mines would pollute the rivers that run into Lake Titicaca, the world´s highest navigable lake and a massive body of water.

The leader of the protests is an Aymara named Walter Aduviri. People say he is radical in his beliefs but I do not blame him. In fact, he seems kind of like an indigenous hero to me, although his movement hasn't been perfect in terms of peacefulness. I hope the protests will stay peaceful (and be more peaceful than they have been, what with the vandalism). He is the president of the Committe for Defense of Natural Resources in the South of Puno and very smart. He has said repeatedly that the Aymaras are not going to give up until their demands are reached. It is likely that they will have to wait until the current president leaves office on July 28th because he really doesn´t care, whereas the new president is a leftist who might be more able to come up with a compromise. The fact is that the mining industry brings some money and jobs to Peru... but also treats the workers poorly and pollutes everything. And since most of the mining industries are multinational corporations, much of the money earned does not stay in Peru.

If the situation in Puno does not resolve soon, I may not get to visit the area as I have really wanted to. I could try to go to the Bolivia side of Lake Titicaca, which would be awesome but probably more expensive. I´d rather visit more parts of Peru because I'm really starting to love this country. Not the homophobia or the sexism or the corruption or the racism, but Peru. What a beautiful country and a beautiful people. They have a long way to go before their society can be ideal but I have a lot of hope. The Peruvians must have a lot of hope too if they are protesting this much.