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Religious groups and individuals have been censored and fined for criticizing homosexual behavior

"homophobic" murders are high,

In 1998, Ecuador's new constitution introduced protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation. In 1999, Chile decriminalized same-sex intercourse. Rio de Janeiro's state legislature banned sexual-orientation discrimination in public and private establishments in 2000. In 2002, Buenos Aires guaranteed all couples, regardless of gender, the right to register civil unions. The policy changes just kept coming. In 2003, Mexico passed a federal antidiscrimination law that included sexual orientation. A year later, the government of Brazil initiated "Brasil sem homofobia" (Brazil without homophobia), a program with nongovernmental organizations to change social attitudes toward sexuality. In 2006, Mexico City approved the Societal Cohabitation Law, granting same-sex couples marital rights identical to those for common-law relationships between a man and a woman. Uruguay passed a 2007 law granting access to health benefits, inheritance, parenting, and pension rights to all couples who have cohabited for at least five years. In 2008, Nicaragua reformed its penal code to decriminalize same-sex relations. Even Cuba's authoritarian new president, Raúl Castro, has allowed free sex-change operations for qualifying citizen

regime change

homophobia

A recent survey in Brazil, the country with the largest gay-pride parades in the world, showed that 58 percent of respondents still agree with the statement, "Homosexuality is a sin against the laws of God," and 41 percent with "Homosexuality is an illness that should be treated."

ising infection rates among Latin American women, a fact that doctors attribute to a propensity for homosexual and heterosexual affairs by men and a traditional reluctance to discuss these with their wives

"Married women always think that they are safe," said Ana Valeria Barbosa, whose husband died of AIDS two years ago. "Then I discovered my husband was not only injecting drugs, he was bisexual."

Indeed, hidden bisexual activity by Latin America's men has provided a bridge for the epidemic to enter the continent's f

provide

a's men has provided a bridge for the epidemic to enter the continent's

male population.

prevalent in Brazil, and in Latin America

"Bisexual behavior is more

in general, than in the U.S.,

Men here are not considered gay if they also have sexual relations with women, or perform the dominant role in the sex act. This is a main contributor to the rapid spread of AIDS among women."

In Africa, heterosexual sex is the primary means of transmission and victims are evenly split between men and women. In the United States, primary modes of transmission have been gay sex and injection of drugs with contaminated needles,

In Rocinha, Rio's largest slum, 77 percent of sexually active male respondents to a survey said they never used condoms.

In addition to objections on grounds of pleasure, Brazilian men fault condoms for their high price and their poor quality. Priced out of reach of Brazil's poor majority, a pack of three condoms costs the equivalent of a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of rice or two kilograms of black beans.

"Many married men get AIDS from homosexual behavior and from prostitutes they don't publicly acknowledge," said Marta Suplicy, a Sao Paulo psychoanalyst who specializes in sexual problems. "One of the big problems of AIDS is that there is still the myth of fidelity in marriage."

President Tabare Vazquez, the first leftist leader in Uruguayan history, already opened access for homosexuals to military schools in May

The Catholic Church is against the bill because "from Genesis in the Bible, it says that 'God created man and woman

Uruguay has a long tradition of leading the way in civil rights, and has shown a desire to move ahead quickly on such questions

Uruguay was the first country in the largely Catholic South American region to approve divorce in 1907, and gave women the right to vote in 1932