Author explores gay life in Bolivia during a recent trip to central South America

Bolivia boasts a rich history and culture—despite its being one of the most underdeveloped countries in the world.

Two of the country’s historical aspects include Catholicism and Latin machismo. Together, both the religion and belief in the superiority of men over women form the basis for poor attitudes toward homosexuality and a rocky environment for the Bolivian LGBT community.

Still, many members of Bolivia’s LGBT community remain in the shadows waiting for change. There is some progress, but it is difficult to determine if the situation is actually improving.

According to the Web site www.boliviagay.com the country’s position on homosexuality stems from the Catholic, Latin belief that, “it doesn’t exist and therefore there are no laws against it.” This mix of law and religion shows us that, even within the context of Bolivian law, there is no position either for or against homosexuality.

During a recent visit to the country, I experienced the belief that homosexuality doesn’t exist. I am fairly certain that half of the people I came in contact with made the choice to flout their perceptions of my sexual orientation.

One of the issues that stood out during my research is that Bolivian police have been known to verbally harass members of the LGBT community. This takes place mostly in the cities. BoliviaGay.com reports that since Bolivian police are often “underpaid,” there are some cases of police extortion of local gays. In addition, there have been reports of raids on known LGBT stomping grounds. The most famous raid occurred in 1995 in LaPaz, the administrative capital of Bolivia. Over 100 patrons of a gay bar were repeatedly hassled and then taken to jail. Because of raids such as these, LGBT gathering places and nightspots tend to disappear and reappear much quicker than in other big cities.