Sexual Diversity and Sexual Rights: When Chile Marched for Equality

One of the most conflictive issues on the agenda for the government in 2011, was related to its promises to allow homosexual citizens to marry, establishing in this way a real equality in front of the law. But due to internal tensions with the most conservative factions within the governing coalition, especially with the extreme right party UDI closer to conservative Catholic circles, the government started to backtrack from its promises.

MOVILH, the widest organisation defending LGBT rights for the past twenty years in Chile, launched a campaign called "El amor es amor" (Love is love) http://www.movilh.cl/elamoresamor/ rallying people from across the political spectrum, as well celebrities and regular citizens to bring attention the the issue of equality, and remind the the gorvernment of the promises it had made during its electoral campaign.

As a way to gather wider support a "March for Equality" was organised, and received wide coverage in the news. The support by celebrities and politicians proving to be an effective way to campaign.  MOVILH also showed how the issue was a cross-cutting concern across ideological lines.

Here are two videos regarding the campaign and the march.

And some images from the march: