Mathilde Thorsen

The Development and Achievements of a Lgbt Movement in Latin America: a Study in the Struggle for Acceptance and the Globalisation of Sexual Identity in Latin America Mathilde Thorsen

This thesis examines the development of a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual (LGBT) movement in Latin America. It will show how this movement has developed and what it has achieved from its starting point in the 1960s until the present date. The first LGBT movements in Latin America sprung up in the major cities in the 1960s and 1970s and were inspired by other local and global social movements at the time including the gay liberation movement in the United States, the Hippies and the New Left. Due to several factors including political repression other Latin American did not develop a LGBT movement before the 1980s. Factors like a globalisation of sexual identity and the influx of HIV/AIDS pushed this movement forward as it has challenged traditional notions of sexuality. The book will draw on case studies from a number of countries including Argentina and Brazil to show that despite difficulties the LGBT movement have been able to achieve a number of things including a greater acceptance in society, a number of positive law changes.