Carnival is for everyone

On the heels of the Ministry of Government and Justice denying legal status to a gay and lesbian organization, the Catholic Church is calling for the government to ban gay participation in Carnival parades. We find both of these developments troubling, and at odds with the long-standing Panamanian tradition of tolerance.

Homosexuality seems to be a genetic trait, not unlike left-handedness, color blindness or green eyes. Due to prejudices and social stigmas good numbers are hard to come by, but it seems that in every society some three to ten percent of the population is gay. Panama's first nations, the indigenous ones, are all traditionally tolerant of homosexuals. A respect for people's privacy, part of Panama's liberal political tradition, has long protected gays. These traditions have stood the test of time because they have been useful — they have allowed many talented Panamanians a productive existence that they wouldn't have had in a less tolerant place.

Now if the concern is about lewd public behavior at Carnival activities, then those concerned should act against lewd public behavior during Carnival, knowing that most of that which we have seen in past years is properly attributed to heterosexuals. It's unfair to single out the gay offenders for special attention. It's even worse to smear all or most gay men and lesbians as indecent or immoral, which they are not. They're a large and honorable minority, and they have their proper place in Carnival like everybody else.

Bear in mind...

Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices — just recognize them.

Edward R. Murrow

Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.

H. L. Mencken

Literature is strewn with the wreckage of those who have minded beyond reason the opinion of others.

Virginia Woolf