Aldo Davila: Guatemala Elects First Openly Gay Congressman
- By
- Carlos Santoscoy
- | July 13, 2019
Final results of last month's election in Guatemala were released on Friday.
Among the 160 deputies elected on June 16 was Aldo Iván Dávila Morales, who is openly gay and living with HIV.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Guatemala announced its results on Friday, the AP reported.
Dávila, who will represent a Guatemala City district, will take his seat in Guatemala's congress in January.
“I'm happy, with a lot of mixed feelings,” the 41-year-old Dávila told the AP last month. “The worry is I'm putting myself in a snake pit. But at the same time, I'm no slouch, and I'm ready and able to fight when it needs to be done.”
But Gabriela Tuch, a lawyer focusing on the LGBT community, said that Dávila's win was not necessarily the LGBT victory that it appears to be.
“It's not that society has said, 'A gay man, affirmative action, let's vote for him,'” Tuch told the AP. “He was favored by the votes and the position he was in. Now the challenge begins.”
Dávila, who has been partnered for 19 years, did not emphasize his sexuality during the campaign and only the name of his party, not Dávila's name, appeared on the ballot.
He said homophobia remains rampant in Guatemala and that he worries his colleagues will not want to sit next to him.