De la invisibilidad al continuum de homofobia: Barreras socioculturales para las familias LGBTI en Colombia

Abstract

This paper makes an approach to the main social and cultural barriers faced by LGBTI families in Colombia from the perspective of 44 activists from social organizations. A qualitative-interpretative research was developed, using semi-structured interviews technique. The results are analyzed from the theoretical elements of compulsory heterosexuality, stigma and family as produced and producing a social system of material and symbolic relationships. It is noted that although these families have historically existed, they continue to experience manifestations of invisibility, homophobia, discrimination and violence in different contexts, as a result of normalization of the hegemonic model of the heterosexual nuclear family. It is concluded that the visibility and politicization of LGBTI families allows to de-essentialize the conceptions of family associated with reproduction and gender binarism, and should be read as a space of tension and transformation of the societal order, however challenges are presented at the macro and microsocial levels, to overcome the indicated sociocultural barriers.