Jaime Parada Explained

Jaime Parada Hoyl
Office:Councilman for Providencia
Term Start:December 6, 2012
Birth Date:2 November 1977
Birth Place: Santiago, Chile
Party:Progressive
Alma Mater:Finis Terrae University, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
Occupation:, politician

José Jaime Parada Hoyl (born November 2, 1977, in Santiago, Chile) is a Chilean gay rights activist and politician who became the first openly gay person elected to public office in Chile. He serves as the spokesperson for Movimiento de Integración y Liberación Homosexual, the leading Chilean gay rights organization. He was elected councilman for his home commune of Providencia for the 2012–2016 term.[1]

Biography

Parada was born in the commune of Las Condes. His father is a Panamanian-Chilean veterinarian and his mother is a homemaker.[2] He completed his secondary schooling at the Instituto Presidente Errázuriz, a state-subsidized Catholic boys school. He studied history at Finis Terrae University, graduating first in his class. He is currently a doctoral candidate of history at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in the area of the social history of science. At Finis Terrae, Parada served as the director of the School of History and the research and archives coordinator of the Centro de Investigación y Documentación en Historia de Chile Contemporáneo ("Center for Research and Documentation of Contemporary Chilean History") from 2010 to 2011.

In June 2010, Parada came to prominence after his article "El matrimonio gay en cartas" ("Gay marriage in letters") was published in the newspaper The Clinic. It consisted of a series of e-mails exchanged Parada and a family member on in support of gay marriage, which was not then recognized by the state.[3] In 2011, Parada began his career as a political activist, joining MOVILH and becoming its spokesperson. In March 2012, after the brutal beating of Daniel Zamudio by neo-Nazis because of his sexual orientation, Parada and MOVILH played an important role in securing legislation introducing severe penalties for hate crimes on the basis of sexual orientation. That year, with the support of Marco Enríquez-Ominami's Progressive Party, Parada launched his candidacy for municipal councilman for the commune of Providencia, winning a four-year term to last until 2016. Parada was backed by Josefa Errázuriz, who successfully ran for mayor of Providencia, against the conservative incumbent, Cristián Labbé, whom Parada has referred to as a “recalcitrant fascist” for his support of the Pinochet regime.[4] His victory makes him the first openly gay politician elected in Chilean history.[5] Parada's election was part of a historic election season in which rightwing, mayors Labbé and of Independencia were defeated and the first two transgender women, Zuliana Araya in Valparaíso and Alejandra González in Lampa, were also elected.[6]

Electoral history

2012 municipal election

(Candidates with more than 2% of the votes are listed.)

CandidateCoalitionPartyVotes%Results
Manuel Monckeberg Balmaceda CoaliciónRN8249 13,16Elected
Pilar Cruz HurtadoCoaliciónRN5374 8,57Elected
Nicolás Muñoz MontesConcertación DemocráticaPDC4600 7,34Elected
Iván Noguera PhillipsCoaliciónUDI4468 7,13Elected
Jaime Parada HoylEl Cambio por TiPRO3551 5,67Elected
Rodrigo García Márquez Por un Chile JustoPPD3320 5,30Elected
Pedro Lizana GreveCoaliciónILH3207 5,12Elected
Pablo Jaeguer CousiñoConcertación DemocráticaPDC3068 4,90
Leonardo Perez BrownPor un Chile JustoILE2381 3,80
Tomas Irarrázaval LlonaCoaliciónUDI2353 3,75
Mónica Rasmussen VillacuraCoaliciónUDI2192 3,50
Malva Retamales ZamoranoPor un Chile JustoPC2015 3,21
Virginia Vial ValenzuelaCoaliciónUDI19843,17
David Silva JhonsonConcertación DemocráticaPS1904 3,04Elected
María Gaete DragoConcertación DemocráticaPS1677 2,68

Notes and References

  1. News: Felipe. Vargas M.. Homosexuales al poder: Quiénes son los que saldrán del clóset político en las municipales. August 31, 2012. El Mercurio. Spanish.
  2. Web site: Jaime Parada Hoyl. Mi biografía en imágenes (álbum de imágenes). . August 31, 2012. Spanish.
  3. Web site: The Clinic. El matrimonio gay en cartas. August 30, 2012. June 10, 2011. Spanish.
  4. News: Chilean voters elect country's first openly gay politician. Michael K. Lavers. November 19, 2012. February 11, 2013. Washington Blade.
  5. Web site: Movilh celebró triunfo electoral de su vocero Jaime Parada. October 29, 2012. Radio Cooperativa. Radio Cooperativa. October 29, 2012. En la elección del día de ayer "Jaime Parada, fue elegido concejal por Providencia, siendo el primer hombre gay fuera del armario en ocupar un cargo de elección popular" en el país..
  6. News: MOVILH Celebra Concejales Homosexuales y Derrotas de Garrido y Labbé. February 11, 2013. October 29, 2012. La Nación.
  7. http://www.servel.cl/