translated by Daniel Soto

By way of introdution- not only of prologue-it is important to note both theoretical nonexistence (we could give a vote of trust to Serpaj) and the practical nonexistence, of an organization at least ready to listening to accusations of violations to the DD.HH of homosexuals. In this regard in general, the Service of Peace and Justice (Serpaj) and Amnesty International Uruguay Branch, fulfill this task.

SERPAJ has been an important bastion, in the defense of H.R.,during the dictatorship and afterwards. Its files reveal the possibility of maintaining the consciousness and the intact memory of a time- difficult of forget,to be sure-When precisely violations of H.R.were lamentably,the daily fare.

In this sense, the work carried out by SERPAJ, has been very positive.One of its founders, the Jesuit priest, Luis P‚rez Aguirre, has published several books that go beyond what could be expected of a person committed to the Catholic Church.One of them- the one that we wish to highligh there - bares the title :If I Say Human Rights on page thirteen we read: " In antiguety the Greeks called their slaves Apropos, that is to say the one that is not seen, that has no face, that is not a person.

It is the face of the excluded, of the marginalized, of the beggars, of the prostitutes, of the children of the street, of the homosexuals, of the shadow of the tortured of the missing persons and of all those forgotten by the community of H.R.It is the face of the women whose rights suffer multiple and simultaneous violation because of their being as people, because of race, sex, and economic condition." In another chapter, he adds: "Speak of corporal integrity, it implicate to have in consideration the sexuality in gutter of the person's existence, is so important that is almost impossible to find a neuter human being, asexual" This material that we copy here, it was use for the flyer- nominative by H.U.- of the Second march of the Pride Homosexuals, on June 28 of 1994. Dr.Guillermo Pays‚e, SERPAJ lawyer, contributed his counsel for two years, to a bill that sought to regulate street walking by both women and transvestites.

Last year, the H.U.headquarters receive a book published in Spanish by the London office of Amnesty International.It makes clear that in spite of an International readiness to establish contact with groups like United Homosexuals/ Lesvenus, the Uruguayan A.I.branch seems not to be informed of it.

In this book, entitled : Break the Silence- Violations of Human Rights Because of Sexual Orientation the following fact is exposed: In many cases, A.I.work in behalf of homosexuals can consist--among other things--struggling to achieve the repeal of laws that could lead to the detention of prisoners of conscience on the basis of their sexual identity.

However, we should make it explicit that, the case of our country is different.

Here laws do not exist that condemn homosexuality in either men or women.

Some people insist that an antidiscrimination lawwould be necessary that would include homosexuals. But what can be done with a law that is not observed? Taking the experience suffered by women, we should keep in mind precisely what is analyzed concerning the "...myth of equal rights..." began to be passed more than 60 years ago.

We believe important what was pointed out by a well-known lawyer of our circle Dr.Couture: "There are very profound human and social characteristics that can not be substantially affected by the legislator. And another important step to take would be to look at some constitutional provisions, in order to span the wide spectrum of the law.

The Constitutional Laws do not mention the possibility of defense according to whether one is man or woman,except to say in Chapter I, of Section II, Article 8ø: "All people are equal before the law, recognizing no other distinction among them, than that of talents or virtues." In order to broaden knowledge on other topics of interest, I cite the following articles: Art.10ø Private actions of the people, that in no wise assail the public order nor harm a third person, they are exempt from the authority of the magistrates.

Art.39ø All the people have the right of associating, whatever be the end that they pursue, whenever they don't constitute an association declared illicit by law.

Cap.II, The care and education of children,until they reach their full maturity. Art.41ø both intellectual and social, is a duty and a right of the parents. The law will provide restraints necessary so that children and young people are protected against physical intellectual or moral deserting by their parents or guardians, as well as against exploitation and abuse.

Art.44ø The state will legislate on all questions related to health and public hygiene to ensure the physical moral and social improvement of all the inhabitants of the country.

In other countries, the existence of constitutional mandates, or amendments to these, or laws, has been constituted on the basis of the respective discrimination. In our country,there is recognition of the crime of "Pederasty, when a man sexually subjects a minor to his will; there also exists the crime of violent ''assault to modesty," when two or more persons of the same, or different sex, while engaging in sexual relations in public places.

The lack of organizations that receive accusations of the violation of H.R.of homosexuals, results in the practical absence of those accusations which may not mean that the need to make them is not real.

Resignation to this situation does not exist; on the contrary . The preparation of this work, has led me to speak with many lesbians, who manifested great hopes for it. Even so, and particularly because it is the first time,we decided to report among all--with only one exception-- personally experienced situations, in the form of anecdotes and without names.

Something that was reiterated again and again: do not lose the contact initiate here.

In the following I present cases, which frequently show great similarities: Case 1.In the times of the military dictatorship and even in the first government of "democratic recovery", so called "razzias" or raids, took place.Commonly, during these actions, young people in particular were stopped, especially homosexuals.The transvestites endured being detained in tiny rooms infected with cockroaches, rats, etc., for up to seven days, with little food and water.

Case 2.Surprisingly or not, there were number of gay bars which were alike in their form of being close : a gigantic "raid.in this way were held for 24 to 48 hours male and female homosexuals, photo was taken that accompanies a record with all their personal data:identification card number, home address, place of work, profession, profession of their parents, etc.This information remained in special files of the police headquarters.arbitrarily anonymous phone calls were made or not--depending on the among of resistance--denouncing the homosexuality of the people at their respective works or to their relatives.

Case 3.

Also in times of the military dictatorship, was common for men as well as women homosexuals to organize meetings in their respective houses, since all rights of meeting or of association, were expressly forbidden.

For those who didn't dare to go to the gay bar or didn't like to, no guarantee of inviolability exist for their own particular homes. Many lesbians and many gays, who got their record in the police headquarters, has being detained for "verifications.

" Case 4.In 1984, the last year of the dictatorship, a kiss on the mouth between two girls,saying good bye at the bus stop, resulted in the following: a policeman approached them and requested their documents, staying with them and saying that they must accompany him. nevertheless, when the official and P.and L.went to the local police station as arrested, L.

spoke with him in the following terms: "If you wish , we'll go to police station, but you are going to get into a mess.

I am the daughter of an army general and she--pointed to P.-- is the daughter of a colonel." The policeman stopped, looked at them, and told them: "all right you can leave.

" Case 5. As , a group of lesbians were leaving a gay bar, in 1985, a group of young men followed them and surrounded them with their motorcycles in the middle of street. Two of them that succeeded in crossing the wall of motorcycle,notified a patrolman of what was happening.The patrolman didn't stop. One of the boys shouted then: "They are not getting into it because they know that I am the son of the chief of police.

(The Quintana boy, a week later was detained, because he was the lieder of until that moment uncapturable gang.The last robbery that they perpetrated, was the house of a colonel. The women that reported these acts recognized his photo in the newspaper).

Case 6.M.L.was arrested in Buenos Aires, in a "military operation along with two other women with whom shared the apartment.They were all Uruguayans. In the course of several days her companions [comapa¤eras] were realized. One of them affirms having heard the voice of M.

L.

while she was being tortured in Automotoras Orletti. They never saw her again. M.L.s one of the missing Uruguayans in Buenos Aires (Argentina).

There is an organization in Montevideo of Mothers and Relatives of the "disappeared" it is part of Fedefam, the Latin American union of all these organizations.

The branch from Uruguay, found out the sexual orientation of M.L.--she was lesbian--they didn't worried any more, the same was with her own family, they abandon all intent of searching for her and no longer carried her their photo to the marches organized by them.

Once her lesbianism was known, the struggle to liberated M.L. was abandoned along with her claim to be a human being.

Case 7.The Communist Party unfortunately became celebrated, in our community when it became known that it had expelled several activists from its ranks for being lesbians. (They have preferred to maintain total anonymity).

Case 8.After we have being in "Democracy," it is common for civilians to pretend to be police in order to intimidate lesbians as well as gays, threatening to take them to the police, unless they agree to pay a sum of money that would make the "official," forget the presumption of "suspicion," for which they were approached. Of course, real policemen also exist that do this choosing their victims in zones where tourists are frequently found who are unaware and ignorant of the laws of this country.

It would be suitable here also to speak with Uruguayan lesbians or gays who has been living for some time in other countries, and came here after several years to visit friends and relatives.

Case 9.A pair of lesbians, who decided togo to Brazil for vacations, were surprised with the news by telephone that their house in Montevideo, had been robbed. A friend of both,--who lives in the same block-- passed by occasionally, when and saw several police cars. They told her what had happened and requested her to call somebody who could be responsible for making an inventory in order to know what was missing.

Two days later the friend went to the house again and noted that many more things were missing than she had realized the first time. The explanation was simple:while they were establishing who lived there and while the women were still in Brazil, the house had remained in "police custody." This time, two bicycles were missing, shoes, a radio, a toaster, etc.Faced with such a situation, one of the women decided to request an audience with the commissioner of the district and denounce the robbery, that had been perpetrated by the police custodians themselves.

The commissioner was clear: "Is better that you not make such a denunciation. You have a double bed in your room, You have photos in you are being embraced by another woman.If you make an accusation against the police, this is going to become known and you and your friend can lose your employment.

Think about it." She thought about it. she spoke with her companion and of they decided together to not make the accusation. The threat of the commissioner had the effect that he desired.

Case 10.It is common that the lesbians that are mothers and have decided to get divorced, receive threats from their former husband concerning their sexual life, as an impediment to their keeping their sons and daughters.

In this sense also it is common that many doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and sexologist (artificial designation for a profession for which there is no university course of studies in our country become accomplices of the respective former husbands, reaffirming the "thesis," that lesbian, doesn't have the moral character, necessary to exercise such a custody.

Case 11.There is listed in our media, a feminist organization that appears in the "International directories of groups of lesbians and gays,but in reality does not exist.

Case 12.A situation of evident violation to the H.R.of lesbians, is the complete lack of information from the Uruguayan Ministry of Public Health concerning HIV/ AIDS.

Given the method and the total contents of all the information , with which this topic has been managed by the authorities, surely believing in not talking about lesbianism is synonymous with our nonexistence as lesbians. In regard to this observation and to our belief that in reality also there is discrimination of gender, this double marginalization has had the purpose of confining us to the reign of the invisible, of the nonexistence or in the "better part of the cases, in that which is, but of "which one does not speak. (For more details, correspond with LESVENUS).

Case 13.Among the conditions for being able to donate blood, to the blood bank,is that of not being homosexual. Although on the page in question it is not specific whether such a prohibition is for men or women or for both, we believe that we should not omit--in this work--such information.

Case 14.Susana Fern ndez and Marianela Arnaud, two members of H.U., committed a robbery on a taxi driver and attempted another, for which they were arrested.

In the Department of Larcenies and Robberies, of the Montevideo police, took their statements were taken separately.

Having been detained "flagrante", there was not much to declare.

Nevertheless faced with the question of where they met, they decided to say, that it had been in the headquarters of H.U.

them the violence began, starting from that moment.The questioned by the police centered on what H.U.

was, what they did there, whether they had orgies,whether the two were a "marriage, who played the male role, etc.I have succeeded in speaking with Susana and she has written a letter for you.

It would be very interesting to rely on a support group for this case. In the first place for the same reason here mentioned, of how the violence developed, of the rebellious attitude of Susana that "provoked" the beating which she suffered; the physical and verbal abuse to which they were subjected and because the Officer of the defense that was assigned to Dr.Edward Pesce,was not present at all.

They were arrested, September 7 1994.

September 9 they appeared before the Judge; Since september 10 they have been awaiting sentence in the women's prison.

With the financial support of relatives of limited resources and of friends, it has possible to employed a pair of defense lawyers who have taken charge of the case and are preparing it.

If the participation of IGLHRC would be possible, can you send correspondence to our headquarters or send a fax to 011 598 2 908166 (IDES-HU).

the provisional number of the headquarters: 949 626.Private telephone of Ana Mart¡nez: 48 64 60.

Ana Martines (LESVENUES)

[From Don Quixote:]

(challenging with a broken lance, all the machinations of the world) S.F.


Doing a little history, we found a group of Lesbians called "Las Mismas" (The same) which wasn't active very long, only around 4 months, between April and August of 1991.

They were the ones who initiated and carried out a survey, and whose partial result I share with you as fallow:

Answered by 49 Lesbians, divided into 2 groups based on their age: A and B.

A = 19 to 36 years old and B= 38 to 47

With ones(s) of these definitions de you personally identify?

a. A way to live my sexuality

b. A permanent sexual orientation

c. A transitory sexual variant

d. A relation lived in guilt

e. Something that is stronger than you.

f. The result of a particular relation between you and your mother.

g. The result of a particular relation between you and your father

h. A sexual variant that has psychological causes

i. I am inmate condition.

j. The result of a traumatic experience when I was a child.

k. The realization of a close erotic bond

l. A question of love

m. A way to be equal with the opposite sex.

n. A life style

o. Another definition....

[They added some answers but not to all the questions by any means.

Here are the ones they give us].

Group A Group B

(19-36 years old) (38-47 years old)

a 16 6

n 16 8

l 12 4

b 3 3

c 3 -

e 2 -

k 12 1

m - 2

j 1 1

i 1 -

Indicate on a scale from 1 to 9 the importance for you:

[1 being the lowest and 9 the highest]

Sex 7 6

Living together 8 6

Fidelity 7.5 7

Free Love 3 4

Stable couple 7.5 7

Casual encounters 4 3

Couple with out living together 3

5 Do you like to play roles in your sexual relations?

No 24 12

yes 9 2

No answer 1 1

How do you consider you physical appearance? ( Clothes, make up, etc.)

Feminine 16 5

Masculine 1 1

Neutral 13 13

Do your family and friends knows about you being Lesbian?

Yes 18 7

No 15 6

Not answer 2 1

Reasons which you think lead to social indifference toward Lesbians:
From the most common answer to the least common:

1. Lack of sexual education/ lack of knowledge about the subject
2. Male chauvinist prejudice based on the historical subordination of women.
3. Low opinion of the value of women/ women are ignored
4. Male prejudice assimilated by women themselves.
5. Self marginalization by lesbians
6. Lesbians are a difficult group to identify
7. Influence of the Catholic religion in our society.
What do you think is the principal reason why we don't have groups of Lesbians that can be identified Politically or Culturally?

From the most common to the least common

Group A:

1. The lack of confidence of Lesbians in themselves

2. The lack of organization

3. The lack of group consciousness, and the fear of facing our society Whit consequent reappraisals from friends at work, etc.

Group B:

1. Society itself rejects Lesbianism because of its reactionary organization

2. Society is not prepared for our way of living

3. Society is the cause of the condition of women and of homophobia.

If you were part of a Lesbian group , what should its objectives be?

Group A Group B

Influencing public opinion 12 5

Becoming a part of the Feminist Movement with our own views 9 2

Developing social activities 9 3

Evaluation by Elsa and Ana Coreta LESVENUS

"And that the pleasure that we created together might be another sign of Freedom"
"One of the least unknown subject of human sexuality is lesbianism.This is not by accident"
"Only if there is water, will I stop being thirsty"
"If we take in to consideration that women's sexuality is just starting to be taken seriously by the women of this century themselves, it is not a surprise that we are still babes in the investigation and fathoming of the topic of Lesbianism"
" Because we must learn new definitions"
" Maybe it is because of the advances of gay and lesbian groups around the world, with their information and in their struggle, that's the topic of homosexuality has began to be reopen in certain places.

But in our little underdeveloped country, the majority of our population is ignorant and has a lack of information about this subject"
" Freedom and the capability of Dis-O-BE-DI-ENCE are inseparable"
" In a way we lesbians find ourselves inside all social groups and in all professions"
"Our place is that of waves on a rocky shore, violently buffeted by prejudice"
" We Lesbians are women who dare to recognize that the social situation, is oppressing us as a discredit gender in our patriarchal and male chauvinist system"
"But we are women that love women"
" Between dying on our feet or living on our knees W E C H O S E Ling on our feet"

It is time that we lesbians start to arouse the conscience of others and also of ourselves that we are not only oppressed women but also a marginalized sexual minority, and in the end double oppressed..

The task is not easy, the questions are many, but is essential to start, opening space to reflect in all women, about the capacity and essential right a discovering ourselves as women, in all our stature and possibilities.

" I dedicate this work to Susana Fernandez y Marianela Arnaud, because among other things they have thought me to disobey.
Thanks goes to:

To all the women that made this report possible.

To Elvira Lutz

To Ana Coreta, member of LESVENUS, because of her unfailing dedication.

To my partner Sandra for her advice

To IGLHRC, because it gave me this opportunity.

To Daniel Soto for the Translation

Ana Martines (LESVENUES) [From Don Quijote:] (challenging with a broken lance, all the machinations of the world) S.F.

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