EMERGENCY RESPONSE NETWORK of the
INTERNATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION

CHILEAN ACTIVISTS PUSH FOR SODOMY LAW REPEAL

Lesbian and gay rights activists in Chile are working to repeal
that nation's sodomy law.  The Comite de Servicio Chileno, South
American Lesbian and Gay Program,(an affiliate of the American
Friends Service Committee), says international pressure will be
effective now, because Chile is among the South American nations
trying to establish credentials as a new democracy.  Chile is one
of only two South American nations with sodomy laws (the other is
Ecuador).  Sodomy laws are generally not part of South America's
legal tradition, because penal codes there evolved from the
Napoleonic Code.  The law is not applied frequently; activists are
not even sure if anyone is currently in prison under it.  However,
they are worried that the law could be applied selectively against
gay and lesbian organizations as they become more active, or used
against anyone the government might want to harass.  The law
prescribes terms of 3-20 years for sodomy between consenting
adults, without defining "sodomy" or stating whether the law
applies to both sexes or to heterosexuals.

WHAT YOU CAN DO!!!

Please send polite, respectful letters urging the repeal of: The
first sentence, article 365, Section 6 "Del estupo, incesto,
corrupcion de menores y otros actos deshonestos," Title VII, Book
2 of Chile's Penal Code.  Urge the senate and president to bring
Chile's law into line with the world's democracies by repealing
the sodomy law.  Point out that the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe requires that all Europe's democracies rewrite
their laws so that they do not discriminate against lesbians and
gay men.

WRITE TO:


Sr. Gabriel Valdez Subercaseaux
Presidente del Senado
Santo Domingo 689
Santiago, Chile

Sr. Patricio Aylwin Azocar
Presidente de la Republica
Palacio de la Moneda
Santiago, Chile