LGBT culture in Argentina

The history of LGBT culture in Argentina can be traced back to the indigenous, who possessed a third gender called weye, gave equal treatment to male, female, transgender and intersexual people, and had a wide diversity of sexual practices.[1][2][3] During the colonial period, homosexuality was punished for being considered unnatural and contrary to the Christian God, and the "sodomy" of the Mapuche people was used as a justification for war. Since its independence, Argentina followed the trend of moral, medical and psychiatric repression that characterized Western culture in general. The 1960s and early 1970s saw the emergence of the first LGBT social movements and rights organizations in the country—which were pioneering in Ibero-America—including Nuestro Mundo (English: Our World) in 1967 and the Frente de Liberación Homosexual (English: Homosexual Liberation Front) in 1972. The 1976 military dictatorship eradicated the movement and many of its members were forcedly disappeared. With the return of democracy in 1983, a new LGBT movement emerged in the country, with important advancements during the 1990s.

Plaza de Mayo during Buenos Aires' pride parade, 2010

In 2010, Argentina became the second in the Americas, and the tenth in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. Transgender rights in Argentina are among the most advanced in the world: its Gender Identity Law, passed in 2012, made Argentina the "only country that allows people to change their gender identities without facing barriers such as hormone therapy, surgery or psychiatric diagnosis that labels them as having an abnormality".[4][5] BBC Mundo reported in 2014 that "Argentina leads the trans revolution in the world",[6] and in 2015 the World Health Organization cited Argentina as an exemplary country for providing transgender rights.[5] In Pew Research Center's 2013 Global Attitudes Survey, Argentina was the South American country with the most positive societal attitudes towards homosexuality, with about three-quarters (74%) of those surveyed saying it should be accepted.[7] The country's capital and largest city, Buenos Aires, has become an important recipient of LGBT tourism since the early 2000s,[8] and has been described as "Argentina gay capital".[9][10]