Colombia Diversa

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Colombia Diversa is a strategic and successful advocate for LGBT people in Colombia. It has published reports and training materials for journalists, teachers and government officials; created an online LGBT community; and implemented wide-ranging advocacy campaigns to achieve legislative change. As a direct result of its work, the Colombia Constitutional Court took a historic leap in January 2009 and extended the legal rights and responsibilities of common-law marriages to same-sex couples.

After this significant success however, the use of LGBT rights as a political wedge has increased, and there are attempts to delay compliance with the ruling. To address this, Colombia Diversa has launched a political advocacy campaign, monitoring the media and deepening alliances with women's and human rights movements.

In addition, the organization is working to legalize adoption by same-sex couples and collect much-needed documentation of human rights abuses. Their efforts are placing LGBT people decisively on the regional and international human rights agenda.

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