This paper examines the contentious relationship between Chile's center-left governments and the women's movement and the LGBT movements. Chile is often touted as one of the most successful cases of left governance in Latin America. Chile's first center-left coalition government, the Concertación, (1990-2010) promoted policies that produced sustained economic growth, improvements in social welfares, an impressive decrease in poverty, and political stability. The picture becomes less laudatory, however, when examining progress around women's and LGBT issues. Even though the women's movement played a central role in the struggle against the military dictatorship and in bringing the Concertación to power, progress around key demands in terms of political inclusion, economic equality and sexual autonomy has been frustratingly slow. Additionally, while there is increasing societal openness towards the LGBTQ community, many of the central legal changes demanded by activists have yet to be fully embraced by left political parties.
To understand this history, this paper focuses on one central questions: Why the uneven advancement of both women's and LGBTQ rights in Chile given both the stability of center-left government and sustained political activism? In examining this question, I assess a number of political factors including the politics of the center-left political coalition; the role of Chile's right political parties and religious organization; and divisions within both the women's movement and the LGBTQ movement. I argue that the re-election of Michelle Bachelet, as the head of an expanded center-left coalition, the Nueva Mayoria, brings new opportunities to advance both women's and LGBTQ rights.
