Welcome to Worldcrunch’s LGBTQ+ International. We bring you up-to-speed each week on the latest on everything LGBTQ+ — from all corners of the planet. This week, as Colombia debates banning the abusive practice of "conversion therapy," we feature an article by Mariana Escobar Bernoske for Bogota-based daily El Espectador, that tells the story of David Zuluaga, a 26-year-old Colombian who went through four years of therapy as a teenager, and his path to self-acceptance. But first, the latest news…
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TW: This content may address topics and include references to violence that some may find distressing
🌐 5 things to know right now
• Russia adds LGBTQ+ movement to its list of extremist organizations: Russia has added what it calls the “LGBT+ movement” to its list of extremist and terrorist organizations, in line with a November ruling made by the country’s Supreme Court that categorizes LGBTQ+ activists as extremists. This list, maintained by an agency called Rosfinmonitoring, has the power to freeze bank accounts of more than 14,000 people and entities. This comes just days after the first criminal case under Russia’s new anti-LGBTQ+ legislation opened, when a court ordered the arrest of a bar administrator and its art director, accusing them of organizing an “extremist organization.” Both are set to remain in custody until May 18 and face up to ten years in prison. Meanwhile, neighboring Georgia plans to ban changing gender, in line with its toughened anti LGBTQ+ law. The law also aims to ban public celebrations of same-sex relationships, while preventing same-sex couples from adopting. Georgia was granted EU candidate status last year, but Brussels has warned the country about taking such backwards steps.
• Thailand moves to legalize same-sex marriage: Thailand is a step closer to legalizing marriage equality after the country’s lower house passed a bill giving legal recognition to same-sex unions. The bill now needs approval from the Senate and royal endorsement before it becomes law, which could happen by the end of 2024. This would make Thailand the first country in Southeast Asia to recognize same-sex marriage, confirming the country’s reputation as a progressive nation when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights. The law will also mean that married same-sex couples can adopt children.
• U.S. spending bill includes effective ban on pride flags at U.S. embassies: A new bipartisan spending bill in the U.S. includes a provision that would effectively ban LGBTQ+ pride flags from flying over U.S. embassies. While the bill does not explicitly mention banning pride flags, it does embrace Republican-led efforts to prohibit displays of pride flags at government buildings.
• Protests after attack on transgender community attacked in Karachi: After a mob attack on transgender people in Karachi, the city’s transgender community gathered to demand that the government provide them with protection and justice. The demonstration, led by Gender Interactive Alliance executive director Bindiya Rana, was attended by transgender activists and human rights activists alike.
• Mother and son launch app to keep LGBTQ+ people safe: Luciana and Nicholas Cousin from Brighton, UK, have launched an app with the aim of keeping the LGBTQ+ community safe on nights out. The mother-son innovators set up the “Back Off. Back Up.” app, which is currently only operational in Brighton, with plans to extend it to London and Cumbria, and then the rest of the country. The app points at safe spaces with trained staff, where users can go if they feel in danger.
As Colombia Debates "Conversion Therapy" Ban, One Gay Man Shares His Story Of Survival
BOGOTÁ — Anguish is the word David Zuluaga, a 26-year-old Colombian, uses to describe his teenage years, when he realized he was attracted to men. Having always heard of homosexuality as a sin, he could barely process his own orientation. And he came to conclude that this was a problem to be fixed.
On March 19, Colombia's lower legislative chamber began to debate a draft law banning so-called conversion therapies known in Colombia as Efforts to Change Expressions of Sexual Orientation, Identity or Gender (ECOSIEG). The bill, known as Inconvertibles ("Unchangeable"), would prevent all forceful and abusive measures on members of the various gay communities (the LGBTIQ+ collective), with the pretext of curing individuals of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
If approved — after several debates and a vote in the Senate — and promulgated, the law would make Colombia the ninth country in the world to ban such practices.
The UN considers such therapies a form torture, and Rep. Carolina Giraldo, a Green Alliance legislator behind the bill, said that the issue is about "non-violence, human dignity and respect for human rights."
The bill's opponents allege it will violate other, religious or professional rights. Religious authorities are behind almost half the therapies carried out on gay or transgender Colombians. The global not-for-profit organisation All Out believes around 22% of LGBTIQ+ Colombians have been subjected to such cures — and most were under 20 years old, as was Zuluaga's experience.
Zuluaga was born in El Carmen de Viboral, a city of 62,000 southeast of Medellín. He was a timid child and always felt he was different though he could not quite tell how. At school he was bullied, which prompted two suicide attempts when he was 11. His family was not particularly religious but was involved with local church, where he was a choirboy.
At age 12, Zuluaga joined a community of Catholic laymen called Lazos de Amor Mariano ("Bonds of Marian Love"), for which his cousin was a local coordinator. As part of this prayer group, Zuluaga said he felt welcome and accompanied for the first time; he learned the guitar, sang, participated in different activities.
"I did everything to save money to go on my first retreat. I became a devotee as a missionary," he recalls, adding that by the age of 13, he was totally involved in the group and its work. Created in 1999 in Medellín, Bonds of Marian Love devotes itself to guiding members toward Christian life.
Today, the association is present in Colombia and 16 other countries. Its members include two conservative Colombian legislators, and the country's former national police director, Gen. Henry Sanabria, who was dismissed in April 2023 following accusations of harassing police personnel into joining costly spiritual retreats.
Recent investigations have shown that Bonds of Marian Love's positions on homosexuality and contraception are reactionary; the group is thought to believe in the efficacy of cures or therapies to rid individuals of any gay inclination.
At 14 years old, Zuluaga had his first "cure," after admitting finding men attractive. "My cousin decided to start my conversion to exorcise 'the homosexual spirit,' as they called it," he said. The process entailed day-long prayer sessions, fasting, putting stones in his shoes and "mortifying" himself for Jesus and Mary so they would help free him.
"It was always treated as a spirit or something that had taken possession of me, of which I had to rid myself," he said. For more than a year, he undertook fasts, which provoked vomiting and caused a gastric ulcer. The Marians welcomed his constant vomiting as signs the purge was working.
Zuluaga was then isolated from other community members, who were told to pray for his "very strong conversion process." He said he felt like a "moral leper."
He was subjected multiple times to the Blessing of Mary the Helper, a day-long ritual performed in retreats that he compares to "a kind of exorcism done by laymen." The rite involved throwing him to the ground, forceful physical contact and prayers "to remove the homosexual spirit." Once, a missionary elbowed him in the stomach to make him vomit.
Despite the spite of the traumatic nature of the procedure, Zuluaga said he was convinced the Marians intended "to help him be saved," so he did not leave the community.
"It was my social place, where my friends were and my only support network," he said.
— Read the full article by Mariana Escobar Bernoske for Bogota-based daily El Espectador, translated into English by Worldcrunch.
👉 OTHERWISE
Here are some other great LGBTQ+ reads we spotted for you this week:
• FromPinkNews: This is the full, shocking story of the decade-long destruction of LGBTQ+ rights in Putin’s Russia
• From Mamba Online: A moment for queer farmworkers to shine
• From Gay Times: How the Women’s Super League became the pinnacle of UK sapphic culture
• From New York Times: A night with New York’s lesbian and bisexual backgammon league
• From Reuters: Berlin drag show “Together” seeks to address Middle East grief
