Chilean deputy's 'homophobic' comment on Facebook causes controversy

A 'homophobic' comment on Facebook by Chilean deputy Enrique Estay, has generated controversy in the country.

"[The government's] worried about the fags and not about the swarm of concerted bureaucrats who obstruct everything, so that the benefits do not reach to the poorest and middle class," said Estay on his Facebook profile on Thursday. "I will not be quiet, until I see changes! [...] It is frustrating to me. A government that is thought to be right-winged, yet it governs with the left-winged ideas and people," he added in a comment.

His 'Facebook status' received comments such as: "[I'm] really delighted about your position, and I really hope more politicians come along with you instead of doing nothing and only caring about their future, because they don't care about the rest. Congratulations!" and "Well done, deputy! Simply speak out loud, well spoken, we are only making a country full of queers and lesbians, that's the only thing they [Concertación politicians] care about, instead of leaving them alone and dedicate themselves to work for the poorest."

"It seems like these energumens don't live in Chile; it seems like these persons, so son-of-bitches, don't understand the reality; it seems like these fucking mummies [momio, pejorative word to call a right-winged person] have their brains connected to their asses, because every thinking, every word [they say] is worth like that, a royal shit (with all the due respect shit deserves)," Facebook user Millaray Essence said on No a Piñera 2010.

Estay's comment was denounced before the Committees of Human Rights (of which Estay is a member) and Ethics of the Chamber of Deputies by the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movimiento de Integración y Liberación Homosexual, MOVILH) on Monday. In a press release, the MOVILH said that "Estay's statements clearly seek to denigrate people because of their sexual orientation and gender identity, which implies a violation of human rights, as well as inciting social, cultural, and political odiousness, which is not at the level of his investiture."

Enrique Estay responded MOVILH's comments by saying that "[f]or queers we are referring to homosexuals. The term 'gay' is a new expression which means 'similar' and is unrelated to homosexuality." He also said that by calling homosexuals 'queers' (maricones) he "didn't mean it to be offensive, though I often say things by their name, as they are, and I have always understood that in Chile homosexuals are the queers." "It is my Facebook, and that's the way I used to mention specifically to the homosexuals," he concluded. Enrique

Estay represents the District #49 (Araucanía Region) in the Chamber of Deputies of Chile since 2006, being elected twice for the office. He is a lawyer, and is a member of the Independent Democrat Union (UDI), one of Chile's right-wing parties.

Source: Wikinews