It was announced Tuesday, that Chilean metro stations, Santiago, have joined forces with the Movement for Integration and Homosexual Freedom (MIHF) to raise awareness, acceptance of LGBT people, and stamp out Anti-Gay discrimination.
The campaign, launched by campaign organisers, doesn’t just plan raise awareness for same-sex couples, but also acceptance of disabled people (with one poster portraying a boy with Downs Syndrome), the elderly, and pregnant passengers are also featured on the posters.
“The metro is a public space and a service used by 2.5 million people. As such, the passengers are very diverse, with different needs and different origins. To travel [by metro] is to share a space, to share a moment together, and this is only possible if we respect one another, valuing our differences. We want a better metro, to be better people, a better city.”
Ramon Canas, Santiago Metro general manager
Canas went on to note that Metro Universidad Catolica would be dedicated to murdered gay 24-year-old Daniel Zamudio. Zamudio was attacked and killed just blocks from the station in 2012.
Chile’s Social Development Minister, Maria Fernanda Villegas, was also in attendance and took to the podium to say she hoped the campaign was a step forward in Chile’s aim to reach developed nation status. She said she hoped the posters would spark positive debate and a dialogue among the public.
“Macroeconomic statistics are good indicators [of development], but they are not the most significant for the people. With a campaign like this, we are advancing and getting at the heart of what it actually means to build a developed country.”
Maria Fernanda Villegas, Chile’s Social Development Minister
