> Subject: [helena-info] CHILE: STUDENT EXPELLED FOR
> LESBIAN BEHAVIOR
> Date: Fri, 4 Oct 2002 12:58:59 +0200
>
>
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> MAILING LIST di informazione sulle attivita' di
> HELENA VELENA
>
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>
>
> EMERGENCY RESPONSE NETWORK
> The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights
> Commission (IGLHRC)
>
> @@@@@@@@@@@ FORWARDED ACTION ALERT @@@@@@@@@@@@@
>
> CHILE:
>
> STUDENT EXPELLED FOR LESBIAN BEHAVIOR
>
> RIGHT TO EDUCATION
> RIGHTS TO FREEDOM FROM DISCRIMINATION
> RIGHT TO EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW
>
> @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ SUMMARY @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
>
> On September 16, 2002, Mayra Espinoza, a high school
> student in Viña del
> Mar, Chile, was expelled from school for kissing a
> female classmate while
> parting at the school's door. After engaging in
> difficult negotiations that
> involved the Ministry of Education, the school
> issued Ms. Espinoza an early
> graduation certificate (the school term in Chile
> ends in December),
> effectively preventing her from returning to
> classes. Chilean lesbian and
> gay organizations protest the discriminatory
> treatment of Ms. Espinoza and
> condemn the 'solution'-- isolating a young lesbian,
> as if she were suffering
> from a 'contagious disease'--offered by the
> authorities.
>
> @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ FORWARDED ACTION @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
>
> Lesbian and gay organizations in Chile ask for email
> letters to the
> following authorities:
>
> Minister of Education Mariana Aylwin:
> gobiernodechile@???
>
> President of the Republic: Ricardo Lagos:
> presidencia@???
>
> Ministerial Secretary of Education V Region: Pablo
> Mecklenburg:
> seremi05@???
>
> Government Program for Tolerance and
> Nondiscrimination Mrs. Alejandra Diaz:
> tolerancia@???
>
>
> Please send copies to:
>
> University Sexual Diversity Coordinator
> cuds@??? and
> coordinadoragaylesbica@???
>
> Unified Movement of Sexual Minorities MUMS
> mums@???
>
> You will find below a copy of the letter in Spanish
> and an English
> translation. We suggest that you send the letter in
> Spanish.
>
> @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ MODEL LETTER @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
>
> Subject: Solidaridad con Mayra Espinoza
>
>
> Señora
> Ministra de Educación
> Mariana Aylwin
> Presente
>
> Nos dirigimos a Ud. con el objeto de representar
> nuestra preocupación
> respecto a los hechos recientemente ocurridos en la
> quinta región, en que
> una adolescente primero fue expulsada del Liceo José
> Francisco Vergara de
> Gómez de la quinta región por "atentar contra la
> moral del liceo" y
> "comportarse como lesbiana" al haber besado en
> público a una compañera
>
> Es sorprendente que Chile, siendo un país que se
> muestra hacia el exterior,
> como un ejemplo en el manejo de los índices
> macroeconómicos, permita este
> tipo de discriminación en sus establecimientos
> eduacionales. Dicha
> discriminación se manifiesta no sólo en la voluntad
> de expulsarla por parte
> de las autoridades de su liceo, sino también en la
> solución que adopta la
> autoridad ministerial, que puso término prematuro a
> sus estudios,
> otorgándole su licencia secundaria, con el objetivo
> de evitar la presencia
> de una chica lesbiana en el colegio.
>
> Manifestamos nuestro rechazo ante el acto de
> discriminación de que fue
> objeto la alumna Mayra Espinoza, porque este tipo de
> conductas
> discriminadoras son aberrantes
>
> Manifestamos además nuestra preocupación porque en
> Chile discriminar es un
> acto permitido que atenta contra los principios y
> derechos fundamentales
> proclamados en la Declaración Universal de Derechos
> Humanos y los Pactos
> Internacionales que Chile ha suscrito.
>
> Solicitamos a Ud. respetuosamente considerar en el
> futuro medidas de
> prevención a las actitudes y conductas
> discriminatorias, con el objeto que
> los y las jóvenes de su país puedan desenvolverse en
> un clima tolerante y no
> discriminador.
>
> Atentamente,
>
> ENGLISH TRANSLATION
>
> We are writing to you to express our concern due to
> the facts that recently
> have taken place in Region Fifth. A teenager was
> expelled from Liceo Jose
> Francisco Vergara de Gomez for "attacking the
> school's morals" and "behaving
> like a lesbian", after kissing a female classmate in
> public.
>
> It is surprising that Chile, a country that portrays
> itself as a model in
> terms of macroeconomic indexes to the rest of the
> world, allows such
> discriminatory acts to happen in its educational
> institutions. The decision
> to expel the student from school, taken by the Liceo
> authorities, was as
> discriminatory as the solution later adopted by the
> Ministry, which, in
> order to avoid the presence of a lesbian girl at
> school, decided to issue
> her a graduation certificate before the school year
> has come to an end.
>
> We condemn the treatment endured by student Mayra
> Espinoza, because we
> consider such discriminatory behavior abhorrent.
>
> We would like also to express our concern because
> discrimination is not
> forbidden by law in Chile, regardless what the
> Universal Declaration on
> Human Rights and international Covenants ratified by
> Chile affirm.
>
> We would like you to kindly consider preventive
> measures that can be adopted
> in the future to avoid discriminatory attitudes and
> behaviors, to allow all
> young people in your country to grow in a tolerant,
> non-discriminatory
> environment.
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
> (Name, organization, address)
>
> @@@@@@@@@@@@ BACKGROUND INFORMATION @@@@@@@@@@@@
>
> On September 16, 2002, student Mayra Espinoza was
> notified by the
> authorities of Liceo Juan Francisco Vergara, a high
> school in Viña del Mar,
> Chile, that she could not continue attending school
> because she had kissed a
> female classmate while parting at the school door on
> September 15.
>
> The situation came into public notice after the
> local Minister of Education,
> Juan Pablo Mecklenburg, ordered an investigation to
> clarify the reasons why
> the school authorities had expelled Ms. Mayra
> Espinoza on the basis of her
> "lesbian behavior".
>
> MP Laura Soto told local media that it was "a
> clearly discriminatory
> behavior, a brutal attack to equality and the right
> to education." She then
> added, "This is damaging the progress that our
> country has made, it is very
> serious, and it's like going backwards in terms of
> human rights under
> democracy."
>
> Mayra Espinoza was notified on Monday, September16
> that she could not keep
> attending school because her presence would "stir up
> the henhouse" (revolver
> el gallinero). "I went anyways, but the threw me
> out," said Mayra.
>
> "I will not deny being a tomboy: because I have
> nine male brothers, I grew
> up among them and nobody will mess with me. I have a
> strong personality",
> commented Mayra when referring the facts that lead
> to the accusations
> against her.
>
> "What happened was that I went out of school that
> day and a friend of mine
> was waiting for me. Like always, kids leave rushing
> out and shoving one
> another. Just when I was about to embrace my friend
> to say hello, they (her
> classmates) shoved me against her and I happened to
> crush my lips onto hers.
> The husbands of the school vice-principal, Ms. Nancy
> Espinoza, saw it. He
> mentioned it to his wife and that caused all this
> damage, when I have only
> two months left to graduate from high school".
>
> Ms. Espinoza said that the authorities called her
> and said she had to leave
> because something very disgusting had happened and
> "to protect the school's
> morals, because of my lesbian behavior. I have no
> precedents [of such
> behavior]. I was already out of school, but they can
> not prove anything
> about me".
>
> She did not want to enroll in another school,
> because she had been at the
> Liceo for the last three years. "It is only fair
> that I graduate with my
> classmates".
>
> Ms. Espinoza's school records are irreproachable.
> Last year she won a "best
> student" award and until last week she was
> vice-president of the Students
> Association. She never had her behavior questioned
> before.
>
> In spite of public uproar against the measure
> adopted by the Liceo's
> principal, he insisted before the government
> authorities to have Ms.
> Espinoza transferred to another school in the same
> area.
>
> Later on, (federal) government authorities met with
> the local government and
> with the school principal and decided to issue a
> premature graduation
> certificate to Ms. Espinoza, in order to avoid her
> presence at school, and
> closed the case.
>
> Chilean lesbian and gay organizations protest the
> measures adopted by the
> authorities and have decided to denounce the
> situation before the national
> and international communities.
>
> You can find more information on this case at:
>
> http://www.rompiendoelsilencio.cl
> http://www.lesbianas.cl/coordinadora
> http://www.trabajoyestudioslesbicos.cl
> http://www.radionumerocritico.cl
> http://www.lesbianas.cl
> http://www.orgullogay.cl
>
> @@@@@@@@@@@@@ ABOUT IGLHRC @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
>
> @@@ ABOUT US:
>
> The mission of the International Gay and Lesbian
> Human Rights Commission
> (IGLHRC) is to secure the full enjoyment of the
> human rights of all people
> and communities subject to discrimination or abuse
> on the basis of sexual
> orientation or expression, gender identity or
> expression, and/or HIV status.
> A US-based non-profit, non-governmental organization
> (NGO), IGLHRC effects
> this mission through advocacy, documentation,
> coalition building, public
> education, and technical assistance.
>
> IGLHRC
> 1375 Sutter Street, Suite 222
> San Francisco, CA 94109
> USA
> Telephone: +1-415-255-8680
> Fax: +1-415-255-8662
> Email: iglhrc@???
> http://www.iglhrc.org
>
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