Thousands of Colombians protest government’s embrace of gender ideology

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 21, 2024 / 17:30 pm

Thousands of Colombians took to the streets in some 30 of the country’s cities over the weekend to demand the repeal of External Memorandum 115 of the national government’s Superintendency of Health (Supersalud) that sanctions sex changes for minors.

Sponsored by several organizations that defend life and the family, including Unidos por la Vida (United for Life) and Unión Familia (Family Union), the marches saw wide participation by the country’s citizens, including families, religious leaders, and health professionals.

In addition to Bogotá, there were demonstrations in Cali, Medellín, Barranquilla, Cartagena, and Santa Marta, among other cities. 

The demonstration in Bogotá, the country’s capital, started from National Park and headed to Bolívar Plaza.

Family Union stated on Instagram that “more than 30 cities have raised their voices to say ‘not with children’” in reference to the memorandum Supersalud published on Sept. 21 that provides “general instructions for inspection, oversight, and control to guarantee the right to health of trans people in Colombia.”

Section H is dedicated to “trans children and adolescents who are in the process of development” and states that the objective is for minors to have “healthy development and support in the affirmation of identity and/or gender expression in these stages of the life cycle.”

In support of its action, the Supersalud document cited in footnote 26 rulings by the Constitutional Court backing sex changes for minors.

Although at the beginning a small group of trans activists in Bogotá tried to stop the demonstration in the country’s capital city, marchers continued their course toward the city’s historic downtown with signs demanding respect for the integral well-being of minors, including the march’s slogan, “Don’t mess with children.”

The slogan was directed especially at Superintendent of Health Luis Carlos Leal, who was appointed to that position by President Gustavo Petro.

In declarations made prior to the demonstration, the president of United for Life, Jesús Magaña, charged that Leal “has issued this memorandum to promote hormone therapy and sex changes, according to his ideology.”

He also said that it’s “a very clear project of President Petro, through his superintendent of health.”

“They don’t care about destroying the family, destroying children; they don’t care about respecting the rights of parents because they want to do it to minors,” the pro-family leader told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.