Ultra-conservatives call LGBT group ‘paedophiles’ as police break up clashes with tear gas
Police used tear gas and a water cannon to break up clashes between pro-LGBT groups and ultra-conservatives in Chile yesterday.
Catholic organisation Hazte Oir (Make Yourself Heard) and the activists squared off in the capital Santiago, AFP reports.
The LGBT group brought a blue “diversity bus” emblazoned with a quote from Chilean Nobel Prize winner Gabriela Mistral.
Lesbians protesting with a kiss in Chile (Getty Images)
The quote read: “The future of children is always tomorrow, tomorrow will be too late.”
Their bus was designed to counter the orange vehicle brought by Spanish group Hazte Oir.
The Catholic group’s “freedom bus” had the slogan “Don’t mess with my children”.
Hazte Oir members called the LGBT group “paedophiles” and “family killers”.
A book by LGBT organisations has been distributed called Nicolas Has the Right to Two Dads, prompting Hazte Oir chants of: “Nicolas has the right to a father and a mother.”
Hazte Oir’s stated mission statement is that it “affirms and promotes political participation, dignity and rights of the person and family and the value of life”.
The group’s president Ignacio Arsuaga has recently complained of its Madrid headquarters being attacked by pro-LGBT groups ahead of World Pride Madrid.
Hoy unos radicales del #OrgulloLGTBI han atacado la sede de @hazteoir. Acabamos de denunciar los hechos y pedir protección a la @policia pic.twitter.com/5TPMgt9btu
— Ignacio Arsuaga (@iarsuaga) July 1, 2017
He claims that the group is neither homophobic nor transphobic, but instead seeks to “sensitise society about the imposition of gender ideology in the classroom”.
Back in March, Spanish police impounded the group’s bus for violating rules on “mobility and advertising”.
Its slogan read: “Boys have penises, girls have vulvas. Don’t let them fool you. If you’re born a man, you’re a man. If you’re a woman, you will continue to be so.”
It was apparently a response to posters distributed by trans group reading: “There are girls with penises and boys with vulvas. It’s as simple as that.”
Last year, President Michelle Bachelet pledged to introduce equal marriage legislation in Chile during 2017.
A consultation on the issue was announced in February of this year, and in June Ms Bachelet promised further efforts to get the legislation passed.
