Chilean LGBT infrastructure damaged by earthquake

Chile’s leading gay rights group, Movimiento de Integración y Liberación Homosexual (Homosexual Integration and Liberation Movement), on March 11 released preliminary findings on earthquake damage to the LGBT community infrastructure.

The Frida Kahlo Lesbian Cultural Center in Chillán was destroyed, MOVILH said, and the headquarters of the Chilean AIDS Prevention Corporation and ACCIONGAY in Valparaíso was severely damaged.

“The house is ready to fall down,” said Marcelo Aguilar, ACCIONGAY’s Valparaíso regional coordinator. “One of the saddest aspects is the loss of equipment that we worked hard to acquire for our headquarters over the past 10 years.”

All of the organization’s services have been suspended.

Just south of Santiago, in the town of Paine, the gay pub Vunker “was rendered completely uninhabitable,” MOVILH reported.

“The homes of many Chilean LGBT activists are in poor condition, while other activists who fight against homophobia and transphobia in Chile are still missing,” the organization said.

“The most serious problem we are facing is that various activists have lost their relatives and friends,” the group said. “One tragic case is that of Karin Avaria, a transsexual activist from MOVILH, who has lost seven relatives.”

For more information, see movilh.cl.

By Rex Wockner