World
USAID seeks to bolster LGBTQ rights efforts in Colombia
LGBTQ-inclusive peace agreement took effect in 2016
BOGOTĆ, Colombia ā The director of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Colombia mission says he and his colleagues remain committed to the implementation of the country’s LGBTQ-inclusive peace agreement.
“The entire portfolio that we have and all of our work here in Colombia is really to support a durable and an inclusive piece,” Larry Sacks told the Washington Blade on Sept. 21 during an interview in BogotĆ”, the Colombian capital. “The core principles of what we do are based on equality, inclusion, rights and justice.”
The agreement then-President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia Commander Rodrigo “Timochenko” LondoƱo signed in Cartagena on Sept. 26, 2016, specifically acknowledged LGBTQ Colombians as victims of the decades-long conflict that killed more than 200,000 people. The accord also called for their participation in the country’s political process.
Wilson CastaƱeda, director of Caribe Afirmativo, an LGBTQ group in northern Colombia with which USAID works, is one of three activists who participated in the peace talks that took place in Havana.
Colombian voters on Oct. 2, 2016,Ā narrowly rejected the agreement in a referendum that took place against the backdrop of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric from religious and conservative groups. Santos and LondoƱo less than two months later signed a second peace agreement ā which also contains LGBTQ-specific references ā in BogotĆ”.
“That was a very progressive move,” said Sacks in describing the inclusion of LGBTQ Colombians in the agreement.
President IvĆ”n Duque, who campaigned against the agreement ahead of his 2018 election, spoke to the U.N. General Assembly hours before the Blade interviewed Sacks. Duque described it as “fragile.”
“Peace accords worldwide tend to be made or broken within the first five years of implementation, and Colombia is right at that point,” Sacks told the Blade when asked about Duque’s comments. “There are certain people deep in the territories and others and high governments who are really helping and making sure that it’s successful, and that there’s continuity, and that the gains that have been made are irreversible. And there’s others who may question, but at the end of the day, I think that from our analysis, it’s on pace with what we’ve seen of the implementation of other peace accords worldwide.”
“At least from USAID’s perspective, we’re doing everything that we can to help support the implementation on multiple chapters of the peace accord,” he added.
USAID specifically supports the implementation of rural development programs through the agreement, efforts to reintegrate former child soldiers into Colombian society and expand the government’s presence into “violence-affected areas.” USAID also works with the Truth Commission, the Unit for the Search of Disappeared Persons, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, the government’s Victims’ Unit and NGOs that support the conflict’s victims.
USAID’s fiscal year 2021 budget for Colombia is $212.9 million. Upwards of $50 million of this money is earmarked for human rights work that specifically focuses on indigenous Colombians and Colombians of African descent, security, access to the country’s justice system and victims of the conflict.
More than 200 LGBTQ Colombians reported murdered in 2020
Sacks said USAID’s LGBTQ-specific work in Colombia focuses on four specific areas.
“The first is really to kind of shine a light on, raise the visibility, raise the profile on issues of discrimination and violence and stigma and all the issues that this population is facing,” he said.
Colombia Diversa, a Colombian LGBTQ rights group, on Sept. 15 issued a report that notes 226 LGBTQ people were reported murdered in the country in 2020. This figure is more than twice the number of LGBTQ Colombians ā 107 ā who Colombia Diversa said were known to have been killed in 2019.
Sacks acknowledged anti-LGBTQ violence is increasing in Colombia.
He said the mission works with Ombudsman’s Office of Colombia, an independent agency within the Colombian government that oversees human rights protections in the country, to provide additional support to LGBTQ rights groups. Sacks noted USAID also works with the Interior Ministry to “support the development of their LGBTQI-plus policies” and the country’s attorney general “to hold those accountable.”
Sacks told the Blade that USAID also works to provide “technical and legal support to help” LGBTQ Colombians and other vulnerable groups “access public goods, services and justice.”
USAID-supported groups assist Venezuelan migrants
The Colombian government earlier this year said there were more than 1.7 million Venezuelan migrants in the country, although activists and HIV/AIDS service providers with whom the Blade has spoken say this figure is likely much higher. Duque in February announced it would legally recognize Venezuelan migrants who are registered with the country’s government.
The Coordination Platform for Migrants and Refugees from Venezuela notes upwards of 5.4 million Venezuelans have left the country as of November 2020 as its economic and political crisis grows worse. The majority of them have sought refuge in Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Chile.
Venezuelan migrants are among the upwards of 570,000 people who have benefitted from a USAID program that provides direct cash assistance ā between $49-$95 per family ā for six months in order to purchase food and other basic needs. USAID also supports Americares, a Connecticut-based NGO that operates several clinics along the Colombia-Venezuelan border and in northern Colombia that specifically serve Venezuelan migrants with the support of the Colombian Health Ministry.
Sacks noted USAID has an “agreement with” Aid for AIDS International, a New York-based group that serves Venezuelans with HIV/AIDS. Aid for AIDS International has used this support to conduct a survey of 300 sex workers in Maicao, MedellĆn and Cali.
USAID is also working with the Health Ministry to provide health care to Venezuelan migrants with HIV/AIDS, among others, who are now legally recognized in Colombia.
Caribe Afirmativo has opened three “Casas Afirmativos” in Maicao, Barranquilla and MedellĆn that provide access to health care and other services to Venezuelan migrants who are LGBTQ and/or living with HIV/AIDS. MedellĆn officials have also invited Caribe Afirmativo staffers to speak with LGBTQ migrants in the city’s public schools.
“Colombia has shown a generosity that you don’t see in many other countries with regard to migrant populations,” Sacks told the Blade. “They really open their borders, their homes, their hearts, to migrants, including the LGBTI community.”
Biden global LGBTQ rights memo is ‘tremendous benefit’
The White House earlier this year released a memorandum that committed the U.S. to promoting LGBTQ rights abroad. State Department spokesperson Ned Price in May told the Blade the protection of LGBTQ migrants and asylum seekers is one of the Biden administration’s priorities on this front.
Sacks said the memo “gives us the political framework with which to operate and obviously sends a message from the highest levels of the U.S. government about LGBTQI-plus rights and equality and inclusion.”
“So for us, it’s a tremendous benefit,” he told the Blade.
USAID Administrator Samantha Power ā a vocal champion of LGBTQ rights ā has yet to visit Colombia, but Sacks said she has spoken with Vice President Marta LucĆa RamĆrez.
“We hope to get her down,” said Sacks.
Editor’s note: Michael K. Lavers was on assignment in Colombia from Sept. 11-22.
Federal Government
Gay Venezuelan man āforcibly disappearedā to El Salvador files claim against White House
Andry HernƔndez Romero had asked for asylum in US
A gay Venezuelan asylum seeker who the U.S. āforcibly disappearedā to El Salvador has filed a claim against the federal government.
Immigrant Defenders Law Center, who represents Andry HernĆ”ndez Romero, on Friday announced their client and five other Venezuelans who the Trump-Vance administration āforcibly removedā to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, filed āadministrative claimsā under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
The White House on Feb. 20, 2025, designated Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, as an āinternational terrorist organization.ā
President Donald Trump less than a month later invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which the Associated Press notes allows the U.S. to deport ānoncitizens without any legal recourse.ā The White House then āforcibly removedā HernĆ”ndez, who had been pursuing his asylum case in the U.S., and more than 250 other Venezuelans to El Salvador.
Immigrant Defenders Law Center disputed claims that HernƔndez is a Tren de Aragua member.
HernĆ”ndez was held at El Salvadorās Terrorism Confinement Center, a maximum-security prison known by the Spanish acronym CECOT, until his release on July 18, 2025. HernĆ”ndez, who is back in Venezuela, claims he suffered physical and sexual abuse while at CECOT.
āAs a Venezuelan citizen with no criminal record anywhere in the world, I would like to tell not only the government of the United States but governments everywhere that no human being is illegal,ā said HernĆ”ndez in the Immigrant Defenders Law Center press release.Ā āTheĀ practice of judging whole communitiesĀ forĀ the wrongdoing of a single individualĀ must end. GovernmentsĀ should use theirĀ powerĀ toĀ help every person in the nation become more aware and informed,Ā toĀ strengthen ourĀ culturesĀ and build a stronger generation with principles and valuesĀ āĀ one that multipliesĀ theĀ positive instead of destroyingĀ unfulfilled dreams andĀ opportunities.āĀ
Immigrant Defenders Law Center filed claims on behalf of HernƔndez and the five other Venezuelans less than three months after American forces seized then-Venezuelan President NicolƔs Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, at their home in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital.
Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty to federal drug charges. Delcy RodrĆguez, who was Maduroās vice president, is Venezuelaās acting president.
āDue process and accountability cannot be optionalā
Immigrant Defenders Law Center on Friday also made the following demands:
- The Trump administration must officially release the names of all people the United States sent to CECOT to ensure that everyone has been or will be released.
- The federal government must clear the names of the 252 men wrongfully labeled as criminal gang members of Tren de Aragua.
- DHS (Department of Homeland Security) must end the practice of outsourcing torture through thirdācountry removals, restore humanitarian parole, and rebuild a functioning, humane asylum system.
- DHS must reinstate Temporary Protected Status for all individuals who cannot safely return to their home countries, halt mass deportations and unlawful raids and arrests, and guarantee due process for everyone navigating the immigration system.
- Congress must pass the Neighbors Not Enemies Act, which would repeal the Alien Enemies Act.
āIn all my years as an immigration attorney, I have never seen a client simply vanish in the middle of their case with no explanation,ā said Immigration Defenders Legal Fund Legal Services Director Melissa Shepard. āIn court, the government couldnāt even explain where he was ā he had been disappeared.ā
āWhen the government detains and transfers people in secrecy, without transparency or access to the courts, it tears at the basic protections a democracy is supposed to guarantee,ā added Shepard. āWhat this experience makes painfully clear is that due process and accountability cannot be optional. They are the only safeguards standing between people and the kind of lawlessness our clients suffered. We must end third country transfers, restore the asylum system, and humanitarian parole, and reinstate temporary protective status so this nightmare never happens again.ā
Ecuador
Adolescentes trans en Ecuador podrƔn cambiar datos en su cƩdula, pero con condicionamientos
Pueden modificar el campo de gƩnero en su documento de identidad con requisitos
Por VICTOR H. CARREĆO | En unaĀ sentenciaĀ del 5 de febrero de 2026, la Corte Constitucional declarĆ³Ā inconstitucional el requisito legal de mayorĆa de edadĀ para modificar el campo de sexo o gĆ©nero en la cĆ©dula de identidad y fijaĀ lineamientos para que adolescentes transĀ puedan cambiar estos datos.
El mĆ”ximo organismo de control e interpretaciĆ³n constitucional incorpora dos requerimientos: que la persona adolescente se presente al procedimiento administrativo con sus padres y que informes psicosociales acrediten un grado de madurez.
El fallo resuelve una consulta de constitucionalidad de una unidad judicial que lleva una acciĆ³n de protecciĆ³n contra el Registro Civil presentada por la familia de un adolescente trans que solicitĆ³, en junio de 2023, modificar el campo de gĆ©nero en la cĆ©dula.
La instituciĆ³n se negĆ³ porque la Ley OrgĆ”nica de GestiĆ³n de la Identidad y Datos Civiles establece que la rectificaciĆ³n de sexo o gĆ©nero es un procedimiento para personas mayores de 18 aƱos.
El adolescente, cuya identidad se protege en la sentencia, cuenta con el apoyo de sus padres en su transiciĆ³n, que iniciĆ³ en 2020. En una audiencia, su madre expuso que si bien en el Ć”mbito familiar y en el sistema educativo se respeta la identidad de su hijo, fuera de estos hay situaciones, como en consultas mĆ©dicas en el Seguro Social, en que debe presentar la cĆ©dula de Ć©l y quienes la reciben preguntan si es el documento equivocado.
En el desarrollo de la sentencia, la Corte expone por quĆ© el requisito de tener mayorĆa de edad para acceder a la modificaciĆ³n de datos en la cĆ©dula es inconstitucional.
Entre varios motivos, explica que restringe los derechos al libre desarrollo de la personalidad e identidad, que la edad no puede exigirse como ācriterio determinante y Ćŗnicoā para determinar la madurez de un adolescente, y que la medida puede generar impactos negativos en el bienestar psicolĆ³gico y emocional.
Por ello, indica que existen mecanismos alternativos como la evaluaciĆ³n individualizada, el acompaƱamiento tĆ©cnico y la consideraciĆ³n del contexto familiar.
En ese sentido, la Corte dispone al Registro Civil que debe proceder al cambio de los datos de adolescentes trans cuando acudan acompaƱades de sus representantes legales y con el respaldo de informes psicosociales.
Estos informes, agrega la sentencia, deben ser de profesionales acreditados o de Ć³rganos tĆ©cnicos pĆŗblicos competentes que sean considerados por el Registro Civil.
El fallo tiene efectos para este caso y otros similares. A diferencia de otras sentencias, la Corte no ordena una reforma a la legislaciĆ³n.
La organizaciĆ³n Silueta X, que difundiĆ³ el caso en un comunicado el 11 de marzo, calificĆ³ el fallo como histĆ³rico y explicĆ³ que este crea jurisprudencia de cumplimiento obligatorio.
š³ļøāā§ļøšUn chico trans de 15 aƱos le dijo al Estado ecuatoriano āyo sĆ© quiĆ©n soyā. Y la Corte Constitucional le dio la razĆ³n. šļøā
Este fallo es nuestro. Es tuyo.
š Lee la comunicado completa en nuestra bio.#DerechosTransEcuador #SiluetaX #CorteConstitucional #AdolescentesTrans pic.twitter.com/aXE4FU9VeS
— AsociaciĆ³n SILUETA 'X' (@SiluetaX) March 11, 2026
Sin embargo, otras organizaciones cuestionan los requisitos. FundaciĆ³n Pakta indica que si bien la sentencia derriba la barrera etaria de la mayorĆa de edad, la inclusiĆ³n de informes psicosociales contradice la tendencia global y regional hacia la despatologizaciĆ³n.
Pakta menciona, por ejemplo, la OpiniĆ³n Consultiva 24/17 de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, instrumento que reconoce la identidad autopercebida de las personas y los derechos patrimoniales de parejas del mismo sexo.
El documento, recuerda Pakta en un comunicado, establece que para el reconocimiento de la identidad de gĆ©nero no se debe exigir certificados mĆ©dicos ni psicolĆ³gicos. AdemĆ”s, que la OrganizaciĆ³n Mundial de la Salud reconociĆ³ que la identidad trans no es una patologĆa psiquiĆ”trica.
Mientras que la activista Nua Fuentes, de Proyecto TransgƩnero, considera que los requisitos impuestos por la Corte pueden ser problemƔticos. Menciona que frente al desconocimiento y prejuicios, profesionales de salud patologizan la identidad trans.
La Sentencia 4-24-CN/26 sobre la inconstitucionalidad de negar a adolescentes trans cambio de su sexo o gƩnero en la cƩdula es un acto que entreabre la puerta para los derechos, pero tambiƩn sostiene algunas barreras y es problemƔtico para adolescentes trans #Ecuador
Abro hiloš§µ pic.twitter.com/aKBUlmnU1A— Nua Elizabeth Fuentes Aguirre (@NuaEliz) March 11, 2026
AdemĆ”s, seƱala que puede haber casos de que la familia y psicĆ³logos expresen rechazo a la identidad trans y limiten los derechos de adolescentes trans. O tambiĆ©n menciona casos de abandono de niƱes y adolescentes trans y pregunta cĆ³mo reconocer su identidad si no cumplen con el requisito de acudir sin representantes legales.
Los condicionamientos para el cambio del campo de sexo o gĆ©nero en la cĆ©dula para adolescentes trans marcan tambiĆ©n una diferencia con el procedimiento en personas trans de mĆ”s de 18 aƱos, pues estas ādesde las reformas vigentes en 2024ā no deben presentar requisitos. Solo su declaraciĆ³n expresa de ser una persona trans que desea que los datos de su cĆ©dula estĆ©n conformes a su identidad de gĆ©nero.
La madurez de niƱeces y adolescencias ha sido un tema abordado en convenciones o instrumentos internacionales. La ConvenciĆ³n sobre los Derechos del NiƱo de la ONU del 2009 es contundente al reconocerles como seres autĆ³nomos y capaces de formar sus propias opiniones a travĆ©s de la experiencia, el entorno, las expectativas sociales y culturales.
Esta convenciĆ³n es mencionada en una sentencia de la Corte Constitucional en que reconociĆ³ la identidad de infancias y adolescencias trans en el sistema educativo.
En las Observaciones Generales del ComitĆ© de los Derechos del NiƱo, documentos de interpretaciĆ³n para los alcances de la mencionada ConvenciĆ³n, se explica que la madurez es āla capacidad de comprender y evaluar las consecuencias de un asunto determinadoā, lo cual debe considerarse en relaciĆ³n con su capacidad individual, contextos, entornos, experiencias de vida y familiar, desarrollo psicolĆ³gico y no Ćŗnicamente con su edad biolĆ³gica.
AdemĆ”s, que la edad cronolĆ³gica no determina la evoluciĆ³n de las capacidades de las niƱeces y adolescencias porque estas crecen a lo largo del tiempo.
Cameroon
Gay Cameroonian immigrant will be freed from ICE detention ā for now
Ludovic Mbock’s homeland criminalizes homosexuality
By ANTONIO PLANAS | An immigration judge on Friday issued a $4,000 bond for a Cameroonian immigrant and regional gaming champion held in federal immigration detention for the past three weeks.
The ruling will allow Ludovic Mbock, of Oxon Hill, to return to Maryland from a Georgia facility this weekend, his family and attorney said.
āRealistically, by tomorrow. Hopefully, by today,ā said Mbockās attorney, Edward Neufville. āWe are one step closer to getting Ludovic justice.ā
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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