Chile Approves Antidiscrimination Law

Pressure for the law came after the killing of gay man Daniel Zamundio.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

May 11 2012 8:56 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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In the wake of a brutal hate crime, Chile's national legislative body has passed the nation's first comprehensive, gay-inclusive antidiscrimination law.

The Chilean Senate approved the bill 25-3 Wednesday, The Santiago Times reports. It will prohibit "distinction, exclusion or restriction that lacks reasonable justification" and is based on race, ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic status, ideology, political opinion, religious beliefs, participation in organizations or lack thereof, sex, gender, sexual orientation, appearance, health, or disability.

"The law will allow arbitrary acts of discrimination to be punishable by sanctions and/or fines and will further empower courts to rule against discriminatory actions that will now be illegal," the paper reports.

The bill was first introduced in 2005, but legislators took little action on it in ensuing years, as it was opposed by religious leaders as a possible first step toward legal same-sex marriage. But supporters stepped up a push for it this year after the killing of Daniel Zamundio, believed to have been targeted for being gay. In March he was beaten by a group of attackers, reportedly neo-Nazis, who carved swastikas into his body and burned him with cigarettes. He received severe head injuries and a broken leg, and lay in a coma for three weeks before he died. Four suspects have been arrested.