A report that a Chilean advocacy group released on Tuesday says 2024 was a “year of regression” for LGBTQ rights.

The Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movilh)’s 23rd Sexual and Gender Diversity Human Rights report notes LGBTQ rights for the first time since democracy returned to Chile in 1990 not only stopped advancing, but saw significant rollbacks in the three branches of government.

The Movilh report describes 2024 as “the year of regression,” noting 23.5 percent of human rights violations against LGBTQ people over the last two decades occurred last year. A total of 2,847 discrimination complaints were reported in 2024, representing a 78.7 percent increase over the previous year.

The report documents two murders, 44 physical or verbal assaults, two incidents of violence in police stations, 89 reports of abuse in the workplace, and 65 incidents in educational institutions in 2024. The transgender community was particularly affected, with a 462.6 percent increase in discrimination cases compared to 2023.

The Movilh report notes the growing influence of the ultra-right, whose narratives have fostered hate speech, is one of the main factors behind the deterioration of LGBTQ rights in Chile. The advocacy group also criticizes authorities who have remained silent in the face of these attacks, even though they say they support the LGBTQ community.

The report specifically singles out the Executive Branch.

Movilh specifically highlights the prohibition of public funds for hormone treatments for trans minors and the postponement of these procedures in public hospitals. The government reversed course after intense pressure and judicial appeals.

The report also criticizes the judiciary.

The Oral Criminal Trial Court of San Antonio refused to classify the murder of a trans woman as a femicide, arguing her identity card still reflected the gender assigned to her at birth. The Court of Appeals of Santiago also ordered the removal of a homophobia complaint on social media, setting what NGOs have described as a dangerous freedom of speech precedent.

The report notes Valparaíso, Metropolitana, and Biobío are the three regions with the highest number of discrimination complaints, with 51.3 percent, 25.1 percent, and 5.8 percent respectively. Reported cases increased in 11 of Chile’s 16 regions, with Ñuble leading the way with a 300 percent increase.

Faced with this bleak panorama, advocacy groups have intensified their efforts to denounce the violence and demand LGBTQ rights are once again guaranteed. Movilh, along with other organizations, have approached the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the U.N. about the situation in Chile.

“We are seeing a reversal of rights that cost decades of struggle,” warns the report. “If the State does not act urgently, we run the risk of discrimination and violence becoming institutionalized.”

In a context where discrimination and exclusion continue to be a reality for Bolivia’s LGBTQ community, Casa Trans Pamela Valenzuela stands as a refuge and comprehensive support center for transgender people.

Casa Trans since it opened in 2022 has provided essential services that go beyond simple housing, offering legal, medical, psychological, and food assistance.

Located in the San Pedro neighborhood of La Paz, the national capital, Casa Trans opens each day, offering a soup kitchen where clients can prepare their own food. Anyone in need of a meal is welcome, although its main objective is to assist trans women and men.

Luna Humérez, president of the Organización de Travestis, Transgéneros y Transexuales Femeninas (Otraf) in Bolivia and director of Casa Trans, told the Washington Blade the project began to address needs the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated. Many trans people found themselves homeless and without means to support themselves because of the loss of informal jobs or sex work.

Support from the Global Fund allowed Humérez and other activists to create a space that offers free food and shelter.

“What inspired the creation of the Casa Trans was post-COVID,” explained Humérez. “You know that in COVID there were many problems with the trans community, especially the Latino trans community, because they were doing sex work, they lived on a daily basis, they lived in rents, they could not go out to work. So, many suffered from housing and food issues. So, the creation of the Casa Trans was to mitigate a little and help the trans population with free food from Monday to Friday.”

The activist said the assistance that Casa Trans has been able to offer has expanded.

“The spaces have been expanded, a multidisciplinary care team has been expanded, from a social worker, a psychologist, an endocrinologist, a general practitioner, a legal advisor, a lawyer and the peer-to-peer work that we do,” said Humérez.

“The space has evolved too much and we are attending more and more cases and helping more and more people. And not only LGBT people, but also people in vulnerable situations,” she added.

LGBTQ people in Bolivia continue to face significant challenges in health, education, employment, and housing, despite some legal and social advances.

The First Virtual Survey of the country’s LGBTQ community, which the Ombudsman’s Office and the National Institute of Statistics conducted, found more than 60 percent of respondents said they have faced discrimination at some point in their lives. This mistreatment includes verbal and physical violence and exclusion in the workforce and the education system.

Thirty-three percent of respondents also said they do not have any type of health care; with sexual minorities and trans women the most vulnerable. Sixty-five percent of respondents said they do not know how to access Bolivia’s Unified Health System.

Humérez pointed out that “legislation in Bolivia and the rights of trans people have been improving over the years.”

“We have had a leftist government that, although it has done some things such as the Gender Identity Law and the Anti-discrimination Law, they have not been enough,” Humérez told the Blade. “At the moment the trans population in Bolivia does not have all the rights as the cisgender population. So, at this moment we are cut off from many things and we think it is important that we must keep fighting and fighting so that the state can recognize our full rights without any restrictions.”

Humérez said it is important for LGBTQ activists to participate in elections that will take place this year.

“I think it is important that we must be political actors in these new elections that are coming this year,” she said.

Casa Trans struggles to secure funding

Casa Trans not only offers a roof and food; but legal advice, specialized medical care in the transition process, psychological support, and job training opportunities. A multidisciplinary team — a lawyer, a social worker, a psychologist, and an endocrinologist — works to provide these services. Casa Trans also arranges scholarships for colleagues who wish to study at a university or technical institute.

“The challenges are complicated because we do not have direct funding,” said Humérez, who noted those who work with Casa Trans are volunteers.

She said U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze nearly all American foreign aid will make efforts to secure enough funding for Casa Trans even more difficult.

“Now with Donald Trump becoming president of the United States, I believe that many things will become more difficult, not only in the United States, but this will also affect the countries of the region, Latin America, among others,” said Humérez. “So, for us it is important that we have financial support so that our work can continue because the work we do is very important.”

The existence and work of the Pamela Valenzuela Trans House highlights the urgency of addressing the inequalities and discrimination faced by the LGBTQ community in Bolivia.

Argentine President Javier Milei on Feb. 5 issued a decree that restricts minors’ access to gender-affirming surgeries and hormone treatments.

Human rights organizations and LGBTQ groups have condemned the edict that modifies Argentina’s landmark Gender Identity Law.

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association for Latin America and the Caribbean (ILGALAC) and ILGA World have condemned the decree, noting it “imposes severe restrictions on the right to gender identity of trans and non-binary people, particularly young people.” They further state the restriction “ignores scientific evidence and the recommendations of international bodies, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).”

The Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Trans (FALGBT), meanwhile, has announced it will go to court to stop the modification of the Gender Identity Law and, if necessary, will turn to international organizations. Legal experts have argued the decree is illegal and unconstitutional, and Argentina’s Supreme Court should intervene.

FALGBT President María Rachid, told the Washington Blade that “from the Argentine LGBT Federation we are filing a declaration of unconstitutionality for this DNU (the Spanish acronym for Necessary and Urgent Decree), because we consider that the president is begging for legislative powers that do not correspond to him. That law was approved by a wide majority in both chambers, where specialists of medicine, of law went to expose concrete research on these issues.”

“On the other hand, we are also going to file injunctions, both collective and individual, to defend the rights of trans children and adolescents, mainly,” said Rachid. “It is not true what he (Milei) says to justify this absolute intrusion to legislative powers, saying that 5-year-old children are mutilated. This is not true. Genital reassignment operations are performed after the age of 18, even by medical indication.”

This decree is in addition to other measures of Milei’s government that affect the LGBTQ community, such as the prohibition of gender-affirming treatments and surgeries for minors and limits on housing transgender women in female prisons.These actions have generated controversy and concern among human rights advocates and international organizations.

“President Javier Milei, since he took office, has been carrying out a series of measures that directly affect the vast majority of formal and informal workers in Argentina, and the LGBTIQNB population is no exception,” said Ornella Infante, a trans woman who is a national leader of the leftist Evita Movement. “In addition to the hate speeches that multiply violence; it is a class hatred to sectors with organizational and mobilization capacity such as women, unions, social movements, and sexual diversity.”

“It is exposed with the dismissals of LGBT people from national agencies, the definition of gender policies, the closure of INADI, a state agency that worked to eradicate discrimination in the country,” added Infante. “All of this directly affects vulnerable populations and painfully shows that it is part of their government’s ideals to end human rights policies.”

ILGA World has urged the international community, human rights organizations and democratic institutions to speak out against these measures and to demand the repeal of the decree, calling it “an abuse of executive power and a blow to democratic institutionality.”