Gay bars in guayaquil ecuador

In this interview, Mario from Quito tells us about gay life in Ecuador and what it was like growing up gay here. The gay scene in Quito is a lot of fun with a handful of gay bars and discos. But compared to other cities across Latin America like Buenos Aires and Montevideowe noticed the crowd was largely quite young in comparison.

Gay Ecuadorian boy Mario tells us about gay life in Ecuador

No bear culture here for example… where do all the bars gay guys hang out? Ecuador has this fascinating mix of the conservative older gay generation versus the more forward-thinking and liberal-minded gay youths. It makes sense when you look at the dramatic change in LGBT legislation over the last 20 years.

Untilgay life in Ecuador was tough: it was an extremely conservative country, on par with places like Sri LankaIndiaor Indonesia where just being caught in a gay bar could get you in trouble with the police. Inthe constitution was changed introducing some of the most progressive gay friendly legislation in the world.

For example, full anti-discrimination laws on grounds of sexual orientation were introduced. In the UK, we had to wait until when the equivalent law was passed and in the USA, there is still no federal law outlawing discrimination nationwide. It didn't stop there, the age of consent for both straight and LGBT was equalized to 14 years oldlong before most other countries in the world did the same.

In the UK, for example, it wasn't equalized until Then in JuneEcuador's highest court made an epic ruling requiring the government to recognize gay marriages. As a result, the older generation remains largely conservative, frowning on homosexuality; this was, after all, what they knew growing up.

In stark contrast, the post millennial generation sees things from a completely different perspective following gay extreme changes in laws that took place that year. We met one very sweet millennial in Quito guayaquil Mario, who told us about his gay life in Ecuador and more about the gay scene in Quito.

Hi boys, my name is Mario Mendieta. I was born in in Quito, which is where I live today. I studied law and am now working as a lawyer. My family is from the city of Loja in South Ecuador, famous for its coffee. Yes I am. I've always known I was gay and came out to my family and friends when I was 25 years old. My family was a bit shocked ecuador first and my sister even fainted — we Ecuadorians are known to be quite dramatic at times!

My mother started to cry because she was worried I would get AIDS, do drugs and dress up in women's clothes. I assured her that me being gay only meant I love being with another man, nothing else, which helped her realise there's no problem. After the initial shock, everyone in my family was ok with it and admitted they'd always known.

It definitely strengthened our relationship. At first, it was hard for me because I had to be careful not to be too out there, especially around the older generations. For example, my father asked me not to tell his co-workers.