Costa Rica lives up to its reputation as a gay destination with its variety of vacation hot spots, long beaches and rugged mountains. But it surpasses that simplistic label by being Central America’s most determined human rights advocate with many rights organizations pushing against the daunting forces of machismo and homophobia.
While homosexuality has been technically legal (since the 1870’s), but police harassment and raids of LGBT people and private establishments was commonplace in the past. The government did not want to grant legal recognition to political organizations seeking to advance LGBT rights. These policies started to change in the 1990s, when the Costa Rica Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution gave LGBT people the right to peacefully assembly, associate, create their own private establishments, as well as their own LGBT rights associations. Such rulings have led Costa Rica to develop the reputation of being the most democratic and liberal of the Central American countries. Costa Ricans to be proud of the uniqueness of their country.
It has recently become welcoming to LGBT people with its friendly, “live-and-let-live” attitude toward sexual matters. On March 27, 2008 the president of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias Sanchez, signed an executive order designating May 17 as the National Day Against Homophobia, committing Costa Rica to join others around the world in working to eradicate bias against gays and lesbians. There is a vibrant nightlife scattered in San Jose consisting of discos, saunas, night clubs, cafes and bars for gay or gay friendly.
