Panama Legalizes Gay Sex
 


It's a new day in Panama, where President Martín Torrijos Espino last month signed a decree repealing the nation's ban on gay sex:

Espino signed a decree July 29 repealing a 1949 law that criminalized sodomy under penalty of a $500 fine or jail time. The move followed protests by the gay group New Men and Women of Panama and other human-rights defenders, local media said. The decree, issued by the Ministry of Health and also signed by Health Minister Rosario E. Turner, said the ban was at odds with the Panamanian Constitution and international human-rights treaties Panama has signed.

It also said the law conflicted with the Health Ministry’s policy to “maintain respect for the sexual preferences of each person, without the existence of any type of discrimination” in the operation of its sexually transmitted diseases programs.

Eleven Central American nations continue to prohibit same-sex loving. They are all former British colonies. Shocking.

Tagged:
Comments (11)

No. 1 · damascene

11 Central American countries that are former British colonies: There is one Belize. The rest are former Spanish territories.

Posted: Aug 14, 2008 at 8:55 am · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 2 · Darth Paul

^^Queerty got served!

Posted: Aug 14, 2008 at 9:32 am · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 3 · Robert-Chicago

Eleven? Here are the seven nations of Central America:

Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.

Are you thinking about South America, too?

Posted: Aug 14, 2008 at 10:02 am · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 4 · memo60640

I think you meant to include "Caribbean" with your, er, broad description of former UK colonies in Central America…Jamaica heads the list, and you can go down from there.

Posted: Aug 14, 2008 at 10:15 am · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 5 · msim

Not that the Queerty boys need defending; but the Caribbean IS in Central America.

A region isn't a continent. A hard concept to grasp for some Americans.

Posted: Aug 14, 2008 at 11:05 am · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 6 · CHURCHILL-Y

^ They're talking about the shithole backwater ape inhabited islands not Nations with a Caribbean coast.
Other than Belize the other Anglophone nation in the mainland American continent south of the US is ape inhabited Guyana another jewel of homopobia and bigotry.
Anyways good to know that Panama decided to join the civilized world, I'm sure you'll are aware this small step was only possible because of the hispanic population because if the black caribbean migrants in Panama where the overwhelming majority………well you know Hell would've frozen before something like this took place.

Posted: Aug 14, 2008 at 12:16 pm · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 7 · Moo

Shockingly racist as ever!

Posted: Aug 14, 2008 at 4:16 pm · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 8 · chuck

Just as a matter of curiosity, can anyone name a Caribbean nation that isn't anti-gay?

Posted: Aug 14, 2008 at 8:47 pm · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 9 · Robert-Chicago

To: MSIM

The Caribbean and Central America are both distinct regions.

Do you have a reference to support your statement "but the Caribbean IS in Central America"?

Posted: Aug 15, 2008 at 12:16 am · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 10 · Charles J. Mueller

Here is everything you ever wanted to know about Central America, but were afraid to ask. ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_America

It consists of even nations as correctly stated by Robert-Chicago.

Central America, MSIM, does NOT include the Caribbean.

Posted: Aug 16, 2008 at 1:18 am · @Reply · [Flag?]
No. 11 · Charles J. Mueller

Correction: even s/b seven

Posted: Aug 16, 2008 at 8:07 pm · @Reply · [Flag?]
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