We Want You to Work with the Nicaraguan LGBTQ Community!

Despite getting rejected from the Volunteer magazine with my visionary monorail plan, that same edition I did have an op-ed published related to my work in the Nicaraguan LGBTQ community and the Volunteer group I am a founding member of: STAR. I am republishing it here for anyone interested. There may be a few references that you are unfamiliar with. Just ask if you have a question.

We Want You to Work with the Nicaraguan LGBTQ Community!

Sometimes when coming from the United States we convince ourselves to believe that our country and Europe are some of the most socially progressive countries in the world, and most other countries are “religious and conservative.” However, as I have spent more and more time in Nicaragua I have come to realize that my original suppositions were unfounded, and there are many liberal aspects of Nicaraguan society and culture.

One of these areas is LGBTQ awareness, acceptance, and rights. I assumed that Nicaragua was a conservative Catholic nation that would have little tolerance for anyone who was not heterosexual. However, I have observed a lot of acceptance, tolerance, and free sexual expression in Nicaragua. The Pride Parade marches through Managua undisturbed. The criminal justice system has special investigators for LGBTQ issues, and the Ministry of Education is hosting trainings on diversidad sexual, the term that Nicaraguans use to refer to the LGBTQ spectrum.

However, despite this openness, discrimination and stigma still exist. Some LGBTQ Nicaraguans face strained family relationships. At its most pernicious, LGBTQ Nicaraguans may get kicked out of their homes. In addition, LGBTQ Nicaraguans are disadvantaged economically, and often do not get themselves tested for HIV because of stigma at the Health Center, even though they are an at risk population.

Last year in a community on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua, graduating high school students wrote a senior thesis on the evils of homosexuality spreading through their community. In a city on the Pacific coast, gay men give blood in order to get tested for HIV because they do not trust health workers in the health center not to gossip around the community. These problems are addressable, and they do not reflect deep seeded prejudices, hate and bigotry. Instead, they speak to certain stigmas and misconceptions in communities that can easily be overcome through dialogue and discourse.

We want you to work with the Nicaraguan LGBTQ community! Peace Corps Volunteers are excellently positioned to address these issues in all communities, large and small. We work in schools, where we can reach administrators, teachers, students, and parents about stereotypes and misconceptions. We work in health centers, where we can work with nurses, doctors, patients, and other community health workers about reducing gossip, stigma, and the health risks that their LGBTQ neighbors and family members face. And lastly we work with NGO’s which bring together diverse groups and people want to work with them to make social progress in Nicaragua.

Volunteers around the country have already begun the LGBTQ outreach work in their communities. ACCESS students in Masaya have received charlas on sexual orientation. Teachers in León have learned about making their schools an LGBTQ Safe Zone, and health workers in Boaco have received training on respecting the rights of their LGBTQ patients. In Chinandega, health workers are being informed about the health risks of men that have sex with men. More so, there are Volunteers all around the country incorporating LGBTQ, gender, sex, and sexuality themes into their youth groups and camps and reaching out to LGBTQ community members. However, as always, there is still more that can be done.

The Peace Corps Nicaragua Volunteer group STAR (Sexuality Training, Awareness, and Response) is actively encouraging Volunteers in all sites to engage with the local LGBTQ community and STAR has the resources available to make that a reality for all Volunteers. Check out STAR’s Facebook page (search for “STAR Nicaragua”) for ready-made materials. STAR has a “charla-in-a-box” that you can download and easily throw together a Safe Zone Training in a local school or health center. We also have an English-Spanish glossary of LGBTQ terms and we are compiling a database of LGBTQ NGO’s around the country.

Looking for the “genderbread person?” Look no further, because STAR has it ready for you to put into action in your community. No matter what your goals are, STAR is willing and able to assist you. Our goal is to encourage Volunteers to work on LGBTQ issues in their communities, and support all Volunteers in this endeavor. We can think through project ideas or sit down and work on making those pesky charla lesson plans together. We are also more than happy to travel to your site and help you get things off the ground. We want you to work with the Nicaraguan LGBTQ community!

STAR’s e-mail address: PCVNI.STAR@gmail.com