In a truly unexpected turn, the Guatemalan president announced late March he would use his executive powers to veto the controversial “Law for the protection of life and family”, citing constitutional grounds. Only a week ago, on International Women’s Day, the Guatemalan Congress passed Bill 5272, or the “Law for the protection of life and family”, which sought to increase penalties for women that undergo abortion procedures, severely curtailed a range of LGBTQ rights, and banned the teaching of sexual diversity in schools – all in one bill. Americas Director for Amnesty International said Bill 5272 “will foment hate and discrimination, putting the lives and rights of countless people at risk”.
Members of the LGBTQ community, feminist activists, and human rights activists converged outside the doors of Congress to voice their collective rejection of Bill 5272. “If passed, this Bill could worsen an already unsafe environment for the sexually diverse in Guatemala” said one protestor. Among other impacts, Bill 5272 codified a family as a man, woman and children, seeking to engrain a discriminatory posture on same-sex marriage within the country’s legislation and seeking to exert control over the teaching of sexual identity in the nation’s classrooms.
Central America is a particularly socially conservative part of the globe, with most countries allowing abortion only when the life of the mother is at risk, or even disallowing the procedure wholesale. This pattern also holds true for Guatemala, as the country has so far managed to resist the wave of liberalisation of abortion laws that have recently swept through Latin America. Traditionally conservative countries such as Colombia, Chile, and Ecuador have all relaxed abortion laws in an unprecedented way and to the benefit of their population. President Alejandro Giammetti publicly announced Guatemala as the “Ibero-American Pro-Life Capital” – just as some 21,600 Guatemalan women are hospitalized every year due to unsafe induced abortions.
A Pew poll from 2013 showed 83% of Guatemalans opposed same-sex marriage, a figure well below the global average. These social views have led to truly negative outcomes for the LGBTQ community.
According to the Human Rights Ombudsman in Guatemala, 19 LGBTQ people were victims of murder in 2020 alone and another 32 in 2021. There is no Guatemalan law that protects LGBTQ people from discrimination or hate crimes based on their sexual identity/orientation. Furthermore, changing one’s official gender markers is also prohibited in the country. The head of Guatemalan LGBT+ rights group ‘Somos’ stated in an interview: “trans are being murdered. To be trans is to be a target-shot in Guatemala”.
The president’s decision has been welcomed by defenders of human rights both locally and internationally. Ultimately, improving outcomes for traditionally marginalised sexual minorities and achieving a socially inclusive and diverse legal framework in Guatemala, remain top-of-mind goals for LGBTQ and Women’s activist’s in the country.
