Different Bodies, Same Rights? An Anthropological Examination of the Sexual Politics of ‘LGBT’ in Ecuador

The current political structure of the Ecuadorian State and its recent Constitutional Reformation paved a way for greater equality and inclusion of LGBT rights. This post-neoliberal Latin American country is shaping the sexual identities and the queered citizen statuses of LGBT people in a remarkable way as Ecuador governs its country in a paradoxical way by using a hegemonic strategy of both transphobic violence and homoprotectionism. This paper aims to deconstruct the sexual politics-performed through practices of repression and exclusion, but also through resistance and resilience-in Ecuador to grasp the local ideologies on gender identity and normative sexual orientation. Although the Correa administration appears to be progressive and LGBT-friendly, the Ecuadorian law can still be considered as a symbolic violation to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) rights as it manifests heteronormative ideologies through its ‘pinkwedging ’policies. The challenge that Ecuador faces now is to translate its positive intentions towards greater recognition of all people-regardless from their gender or sexual preference-and to continue the Citizen Revolution to advocate for equal rights to all her citizens.