Native Amazonians Deal with Coming Out

Blabbeando has a fascinating post about the coming out and living situation of Indigenous people in the Amazon, on the Brazilian border with Peru and Colombia.

Three Ticuna tribe members from the Umariaçu village, including 22 year-old Natalicio Ramos Guedes (pictured) say that at least twenty of the 3,600 village members - including them - are gay.
Ramos Guedes, whose brother Marcenio is also gay, participates in a local folk dance group. Both dress up like women and perform traditional dances at different social events throughout the region.

Both brothers say that it hasn't been easy to be so open. Marcenio says he left home when he was fifteen because he could not stand the constant fights with his father and moved to neighboring Tabatinga where he worked as a domestic servant. Now 24, he is back home and says that his family now supports him and backed him in launching the dance troop.

In Latin American culture and media it is rare to see a positive story of coming out, much less among Native Peoples.

Souce : Blabbeando