Introduction Antigua, Guatemala is more like an outdoor museum than a living city, overloaded with colonial Spanish architecture, yellow-ochre-blue walls, tiny specialty shops full of artwork, paintings and local jewelry, touristic but charming cafes serving quiche or dark chocolate drinks and dozens of old church ruins–and functioning ones as well–rough cobblestone roads constantly under repair,
Homosexual acts between consenting men over the age of eighteen are legal in Guatemala. Even so, discrimination and hate crimes go unpunished, especially crimes towards the Transgenger community. As with many Latin American countries a macho attitude prevails with deep rooted homophobia. There is state harassment of the LGBT community. There are occasional reports of killings of gay activists for example in 1997 transgendered Aids Activist Luis Palencia was gunned down in Guatemala City. The police have also been implicated in a series of anti-gay murders. Given all this there is a surprisingly large gay scene in Guatemala City with several bars clubs, a sauna and even a sex club. Since 2000 there have been annual Gay Pride Marches.
Name: Guatemala
Population: 13000200
Capital: Guatemala City - Pop. 1300000
Area: 108890 sq. km/ sq. miles
Language: Spanish
Religion: Roman Catholic
Status of Homosexuality: Legal
Telephone Country Code: 502
Gay Life in Modern Guatemala 2010
Introduction This small ambitious country is one of Central America’s more prosperous nations but it doesn’t appear that way even to a casual visitor. Under the glaze of business and industry are serious human rights abuses, especially against LGBT people. Here is a small portrait of life when one is gay, poor, and disenfranchised. However,
Gay Guatemala
Two guest writers describe a realistic picture of oppressed life for lesbigays in this small country racked by humiliating poverty and insane revolution over the past generation. Yet small pockets of hope live on in lesbigay hearts and in a few bars in downtown Guatemala City. Also see: Gay Guatemala News & Reports 1996 to
