Date: Mon, 27 Nov 95 01:42:24 PST From: ilga@telepac.pt Subject: ILGA - Portugal I am very pleased as the first chairman to present you with ILGA-Portugal, the first National gay organisation in Portugal. We are a group of individuals that decided that something finally had to be done in our country regarding the situation of the gay community. ILGA-Portugal is an independent association linked to ILGA in Brussels as a full member. We have a number of projects in target but, as usual with new organisations, lack experience, information and resources. We have however, been very hard at work, preparing our first projects. We shall be participating in the World Aids Day activities here in Lisbon through an exhibition starting on November the 27th and ending in late February. The National Science Museum is organising the exhibition with side debates on issues concerning HIV and AIDS and invited us to participate, which we naturally accepted. We will have a stand where we will be allowed to exhibit any material we wish and see fit. And here, start our first problems. We are currently translating and adapting a few pamphlets kindly sent to us. We have four done, *Lesbian Safer Sex*, *Comming out to your Parents*, *Why is my child Gay?* and *Be Yourself*! Although very usefull, it is not enough. What I'm hoping for, is that we manage to collect the most information possible before the start (November 27th). If your organization has *published* any sort of information regarding gay issues and HIV/AIDS issues, or *Posters* of any sort, or even *videos* for that matter,I would be eternally gratefull if you could send it to us. The material gathered shall afterward be included in our documentation center, much needy of publications. Even if it does arrive prior to that date it will most certainly be welcome. If your organization for any reason can't help us, please feel free to make a copy or printout of this letter and send it to whom you think may have help. We have contacts with local NGO's in the AIDS area like ABRACO and ALTERNATIVA POSITIVA and maintain a good relationship with them. They are very busy preparing thier activities for December 1st and have good roots in the community. As I said earlier, we have several projects. Most of them are dependent on money we dont have. We are going to produce the pamphlets we translated with a photocopy machine and staple the pages together. That is inexpensive, and all we can afford. We'd LOVE to get a couple of posters done, but we just dont have any money. Perhaps our biggest project is a HOTLINE we would like to set up, since there is no support for our gay community in any sense. We have people ready to start working on the job, but we dont have any installations, which makes it very difficult. The HOTLINE is supposed to give information and support to people affected with HIV/AIDS, inform the gay community on events, support the gay youth with their problems, guide those who wish to come out of the closet, build a database on gay and gay-friendly businesses, etc. etc. etc. At the moment, and till we get a place, the whole organisation is run from my house. ABRACO last week kindly lent us a room where we could hold our meetings. However, as many difficulties come across our way, Im sure we have enough strength to overcome them and do with what we have. I've been also very active in the internet, which has proved to be a precious tool, to get a few contacts done and hunt down information. As a result of my navigating I noticed the lack of information on Portugal, I decided to write an essay on Gay life in Portugal which follows. If you think its usefull, feel free to pass it around. GAY LIFE IN PORTUGAL 1 - Legal Aspects The Portuguese constitution guarantees equal rights to all its citizens, irrespective of race, religion, sex, social status, political convictions, education, territory of origin, ideology and economical situation. (article 13 of the Constitution). As you may notice there is no mention of sexual orientation. Homosexuality is, however, *not* illegal in this country, since every individual is entitled to choose his/her own destiny. The only mention of homosexuality in Portuguese Law concerns sexual abuse of minors (under 16) which is punishable with prison. The sentences are very light since the maximum prison sentence is 20 years for qualified first degree murder. The law doesnt recognise the communion of two people of the same sex, and thus in case of social rights, fiscal benefits and death, the partners have no rights whatsoever. 2 - Social Aspects Public manifestation of affection between two people of the same sex (namely men) is looked upon as strange but tolerated (not everywhere though). There are many public figures that although in the closet, are publicly known as being gay. Gay-bashing, as far as I know is unheard of. Perhaps a simple explanation for that is the fact that there are no gay organisations in this country besides ILGA - Portugal, who has just started and isnt publicly known as yet. I think that once it (ILGA - Portugal) becomes more known the counter force of right-wing and fanatic religious groups will rapidly move to action. For the time, gay life is quiet as far as violent social oppression is concerned. There are however, reports of discrimination of people in the workplace, school etc. based on their sexual orientation. This is illegal, and often covered up by other excuses. Nonetheless it is troublesome the fear that this practice induces in the gay community. The military does not discriminate based on sexual orientation and it is frequent to have out of the closet gay officers within the armed forces. 3 - The Gay Community The gay community has a reasonable range of sites like Bars, Discos, Cafes, Cruising areas, Saunas, Restaurants, Beaches etc. where one can meet new people and socialise in Lisbon. The rest of the country is very neglected. There are a few places in the second city Oporto and in the Algarve. As far as associations and organisations the list is very small. ILGA - Portugal is the only gay organisation, and as you may already know, is very young and not yet in full function. There is another gay group called GTH (Homosexual Work Group) which was created by a parliamentary unrepresented politically radical left-wing party PSR (Revolutionary Socialist Party). They are a group of 10-20 men that meet on Fridays and JUST talk. They unfortunately have no impact whatsoever. As a result of this lack of organisations, the gay community is very ununited. There are no newsletters, newspapers or information-providing publications that let the community know what is going on in this country or elsewhere for that matter. There is one magazine, published in France, in Portuguese that has plenty of pictures of VERY young teenagers and specialises in the history of homosexuality. It is very expensive and very hard to find. Generally the gay individual, is in the closet due to fear of the family and employer finding out. As very pleasant the descriptions may sound in the previous paragraphs, the truth and harsh reality is that people including the gay community are very mis-informed as to what homosexuality is and therefore discriminate. Gays and Lesbians are afraid of coming out in a very catholic country, where there are NO structures to support them. Most of the young people that come to Lisbon looking for a better life and understanding for their sexual orientation end up in prostitution. It is current practice, even in Lisbon, for youngsters to be thrown out of home, if their parents as much as suspect of their homosexuality. Although there is a CERTAIN DEGREE of tolerance publicly, the story changes dramatically when a member of the family is concerned. A great number, due to lack of resources stop studying and start working, hence justifying the huge number of homosexuals that have an incomplete education. Many not being able to travel, arent aware on what they are missing out on and how VERY VERY far behind Portugal is - and never mind Amsterdam or London - when compared to our neighbour Spain. AIDS and HIV have heavily afflicted the community, whose habits slowly start changing and the statistics prove that. Homosexuals are the group with highest number of cases, followed by IV drug users. Although the tendency to stabilise amongst the Gay community is confirmed, the cases are multiplying exponentially. I think there is still alot to be done in this area for the gay community. Lesbians are simply ignored. If there is little material for gay men, there is NO material and info for Lesbians. ILGA-Portugal is producing THE first publication directed to the Lesbian population. Much has to be done alot has to change. Our Address: Apartado 21281 Lisboa 1131 Lisboa Codex Portugal email: ilga@telepac.pt Tel/Fax:+351-1-2545383 Contacts prefered in English or Portuguese Best Regards Goncalo Dumas Diniz ILGA - PORTUGAL (Chairman) ****************************************************************************** To send a message to the entire list "queerplanet", email queerplanet@abacus.oxy.edu This list is run by the program MAJORDOMO@abacus.oxy.edu. *******************************************************************************