In Cartagena, we met Jesus, who is an artist and a guide, who told us more about his gay life in Colombia and what it's like growing up by the coast in Barranquilla. As a gay couple traveling in Colombia, we were so pleasantly surprised by how gay friendly Colombia is. We felt extremely welcome and never had any problems anywhere. And if that wasn't enough, Colombia just keeps on getting gayer, electing its first lesbian mayor in October 2019.īogota and Medellin each have a thriving fun gay neighborhood, especially Chapinero in Bogota where you can find the mega gay club Theatron – the largest gay club in Latin America. In addition, Congress passed a law banning discrimination based on orientation in 2011, adoption was legalized in 2012 and the right to change legal gender has been in place since 1993.
Local gay boy Jesus from Barranquilla gives us the lowdown about gay Colombia and what day-to-day life is like for the LGBTQ community of Colombia.ĭespite its sordid history with the cartels, Colombia has undergone a huge transformation to not only become one of the most gay friendly countries in Latin America, but in the world.Ĭatholicism is still strong here and society is largely conservative, but despite this, gay marriage was legalized in April 2016, with the first gay wedding taking place in Cali back in May 2016.
