Gay/LGBTI activists from Central America are visiting Italy: tomorrow they will march in Rome for the Pride Wave.

Rome, June 12, 2015 – Norman Gutiérrez, a Nicaraguan and director of CEPRESI, and Carlos Valdéz, a Guatemalan and head of the Asociación Lambda, are the two gay activists from Central America who are starting a series of meetings today in various Italian cities to bear witness to the complex situation faced by gay, lesbian, and transgender communities in their countries of origin. The initiative is part of the first Italian cooperation project on LGBTI rights (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transvestite, and intersex), “Centroamérica diferente: derechos LGBTI, derechos para todos y todas”, funded by the European Union and involving the collaboration of the NGOs Terra Nuova, RE.TE. and Arcigay for Italy, CEPRESI (Nicaragua), Asociación Lambda (Guatemala), Asociación Kukulcán of Honduras and Asociación Entre Amigos of El Salvador. In Central America, LGBTI people experience daily episodes of discrimination, ridicule, violence that even leads to killing. Unfortunately, those who most frequently and systematically violate the human rights of LGBTI people are officials or institutional personnel (police officers, army officers, healthcare workers, lawyers and judges, prison guards, teachers in schools of all levels, etc.). This reality of Discrimination and repression against this segment of the population are an expression of the same cultural matrix, steeped in sexism, that generates domestic violence against women and children. The project aims to support these communities and, through firsthand accounts, raise awareness among the international community. Furthermore, the project aims to strengthen the capacity of associations representing the LGBTI community, which possess a strong capacity for advocacy and dialogue with other sectors of society and with institutions. Norman Gutiérrez and Carlos Valdéz, the two activists who arrived in Italy today, will march tomorrow at Rome Pride, the capital's pride event, part of the Onda Pride movement. On Monday, June 15, they will also meet with Arcigay President Flavio Romani and National Secretary Michele Breveglieri.