Gay Rights March

Today, June 27, Bogota gays held their pride march. As in other years, it was colorful, flamboyant, and noisy, and undoubtedly offensive to some people.

But the annual event receives the city's endorsement, and Bogotá's leftist mayors have traditionally participated.

Bogotá, incidentally, has a gay neighborhood, Chapinero, and laws which are surprisingly progressive for a traditionally conservative, very Catholic nation: Same-sex couples can register civil unions, inherit from each other and receive each other's pensions.

Even more paradoxical, perhaps, is the fact that Colombia's supposedly revolutionary neighbors, Ecuador, Venezuela and Bolivia, haven't taken such progressive steps.

Colombia's most prominent organization advocating for rights for sexual minorities is Colombia Diversa.

This blog written by Mike Ceaser, of Bogota Bike Tours