MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

LGBTIQ+ political party seeking registration in Venezuela

“We are a national platform to gather each and every one of the demands that the different sectors of the country have,” Briceño explained

Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) has received a petition to record the name of the first-ever LGBTIQ+ community party, it was reported in Caracas.

The movement founders chose the name “United for Dignity” (UPD) and vowed to make history in this country“ from an ”inclusive“ viewpoint.

”We are consolidating a dream that as a social movement we have had for many years: To have not only the right to elect but also the right to be elected and to be the representatives of all those people who have been forgotten by the powers that be,“ explained UPD spokesperson Richelle Briceño.

The LGBTIQ+ activist insisted UPD sought to represent ”all social sectors“ of Venezuela regardless of their sexual orientation. ”We are a movement of movements. We are a national platform to gather each and every one of the demands that the different sectors of the country have.“

In this regard, Briceño highlighted that ”that is the core of the action of Unidos Por la Dignidad, that is the core of our being, and we are going to give an answer to all the sectors of the country.“

”Our motto is that no one, absolutely no one, is left behind and the name of the movement is for dignity, for the dignity of every Venezuelan, of the one who is in the streets of this country, of the mother who is at home with nothing to give to her children,“ she asserted.

Briceño also pointed out that UPD ”is a dream of decades“ and of ”the population in a situation of vulnerability“ in Venezuela. ”From those who know that they have lived through discrimination, abandonment, and oblivion by the system that has impoverished all Venezuelans,“ she pointed out.

Alongside fellow activists Tamara Adrián and Koddy Campos, Briceño walked into the CNE headquarters and filed for the reservation of the movement's name.

LGBTIQ+ community and human rights defenders have on more than one occasion taken it to the streets of Caracas to stage protests demanding the right of transgender people to an identity befitting their stance. ”No more, no less, the same rights,” the movement chanted on Pride Day last month.

The massive march was backed by diplomatic delegations such as those from Mexico, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.

In 2010, Article 146 of the Organic Law of Civil Registry was rewritten so as to allow people to change their name through a simple procedure, as established by international standards, according to several United Nations Committees. However, activists claim this is not applied out of discrimination and hence the lack of a legal identity condemns those affected to a life with no access to healthcare, education, work, housing, and basic services under equal conditions.

(Source: ANSA)