A ruling ends criminalisation
A police raid on a bar, an alliance of courageous activists and, in the end, a historic ruling.
On 25 November 1997, Ecuador's Constitutional Court declared the ban on same-sex relations unconstitutional. Since the nineteenth century, they had been punishable by four to eight years in prison. With a unanimous decision, this chapter was closed.
The road there began with a night of violence. In June 1997, police stormed the Abanicos bar in Cuenca, where the city's first Gay Queen was just being crowned. Those arrested later reported abuse, torture and sexual violence in custody. What was meant as intimidation achieved the opposite.
For the first time, queer groups from across the country joined forces. They called their alliance Triángulo Andino, a deliberate reference to the pink triangle of the Nazi era. For a constitutional challenge they needed a thousand signatures. Many gay men and lesbians were afraid of being recognised. So it was mainly trans women from the group Coccinelle who stood in squares and outside universities collecting them. In Quito, the country's first queer protest march moved through the streets. In the end, around fourteen hundred signatures were on the table.
The victory had a bitter aftertaste. The court struck down only the first paragraph of the criminal provision and, in its reasoning, still described homosexuality as a "dysfunction". People celebrated anyway, with a spontaneous march through the capital.
The impact was far-reaching. Just a year later, Ecuador wrote protection against discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation into its constitution, one of the first countries in the world to do so. Since 2019, same-sex couples have been able to marry. Reports of so-called conversion clinics show, however, that everyday life still lags behind the law.