2023-07-28 01:40:00
“Being homosexual is not a crime”, said the mother of one of the detainees, in front of the Justice Palace of the State of Carabobo, where demonstrators joined this Wednesday (photo: Pexels) Last Sunday (23/7), the Venezuelan police arrested 33 men who were in a place that functioned as a sauna and LGBT+ bar in Valencia, in the north of the country and two hours from the capital, Caracas. The action at the Avalon Club -according to local media, without a court order– was followed by an exhibition of photographs and identity documents of the prisoners.
According to some versions, the corporation would have acted after denouncing, through an anonymous call, that group sex was taking place in the place. The Bolivarian National Police claims that the regulars recorded themselves and intended to sell pornographic material.
The prisoners, who are between 21 and 57 years old, were presented to a judge only on Wednesday (26/7), three days after the arrest and after a postponement of the hearing – a delay that is standard of the regime. Only at that moment did it become known that the men were being accused, among other crimes, of noise pollution and indecent exposure. The latter, according to the penal code, would only be a crime if committed in public, which was not the case last Sunday.
The authorities’ allegations were quickly refuted by NGOs, activists and families of those affected. “Being homosexual is not a crime,” said the mother of one of the detainees, in front of the Palace of Justice of the State of Carabobo, where demonstrators gathered this Wednesday. Amnesty International Venezuela said that “33 people were accused of homosexuality, in 2023”. According to the LGBTIQ+ Violence Observatory, government officials tried to extort prisoners’ relatives.
“The detention of LGBT+ people is a vestige of when LGBT+ people were criminalized in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
The NGO Provea (Program for Education in Human Rights Action), according to which the government had committed itself to the eradication of all discriminatory practices against the LGBT+ community, stated that the episode starts a new attack against the community in Venezuela. “This is a precedent that could mark a new chapter of fear and imprisonment for this vulnerable group, which already faces hate speeches and stigmatization from various groups and authorities”, stated the NGO.
On Wednesday, 30 of the prisoners were released — the owner of the place and two masseuses are still in prison and must present guarantors for their release.
The operation takes place at the same time that the Venezuelan dictator, Nicols Maduro, strengthens his relations with the local evangelical churches in yet another strategy to remain in power. Despite this, in March, the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) of Venezuela annulled a controversial article of the Code of Military Justice that provided for imprisonment of one to three years for members of the Armed Forces who carry out homosexual acts.
It is not known how many military personnel were convicted of the crime — at least one case was registered in 2013. However, according to reports from organizations that defend LGBT+ rights in the country, the device was frequently invoked by officials to embarrass gays and lesbians within the organization.
The decision was considered a victory by LGBT+ movements in Venezuela. The dictatorship was one of the few countries in Latin America that penalized same-sex relationships, even within the limited scope of the Armed Forces.
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