Did US Ambassador Wally had something to do with this? LGBT Dominican Republic

Do you think the influence of ex-US ambassador impacted the LGBT movement in the DR?

  • Yes, absolutely.

    Votes: 8 34.8%
  • That seems to be the case.

    Votes: 3 13.0%
  • I don't think so.

    Votes: 11 47.8%
  • I'm not sure.

    Votes: 1 4.3%

  • Total voters
    23

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
13,370
3,150
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The ex-US Ambassador Wally was very controversial due to his open support of gay movements and all things gay in the DR. Needless to say, his appointment to the DR was not seen with good eyes.

At one point Wally complained that at many social events the ambassadors of other nations were invited and also received invitations for their spouses, yet he got invited but the invitations never extended to his partner.

Wally also made it public that the US Embassy was going to financially support any declared gay Dominican politicians and/or any gay Dominican political party/group that aspired to gain political influence and political positions in the DR. This was seen by many sectors in Dominican society as an outright declaration of foreign interference in the internal affairs of the country.

Now there's a video that was posted on June 24 of this year in Youtube where a group of young gay/lesbian/bisexual/etc Dominicans express how they 'got out of the closet' and, by virtue of the video itself, are encouraging other Dominicans to do the same.

Would a video like this had been made if it wasn't for Wally's influence?

The ex-ambassador isn't mentioned in the video, but one does has to wonder if his insistence in supporting LGBT movements/interests in the DR indirectly influenced the producers/participants of this video.

[video=youtube;0xu57WrNw18]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xu57WrNw18[/video]
 
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NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
13,370
3,150
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This video (in Spanish) from 2015 focuses on the scandal that was created when ex-ambassador Wally was officially designated as U.S. ambassador to the DR and his very vocal support for the LGBT movement in the DR.

[video=youtube;VKetvU14TgU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKetvU14TgU[/video]
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
5,485
338
63
Personally I think he had zero affect on the gay community in the country. There are several politicians, ministers and ex-ministers who are known to be gay but have not "come out of the closet" and I doubt people like Wally would make that happen.While the country is on the whole accepting of gays and lesbians I don't think anyone in a government position would yet feel comfortable in declaring their sexuality - even though it is supposedly common knowledge.

Matilda
 
Sep 4, 2012
5,931
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As if there were never ever any gay folks in the DR prior to Wally, ludicrous!

"Wally also made it public that the US Embassy was going to financially support any declared gay Dominican politicians and/or any gay Dominican political party/group that aspired to gain political influence and political positions in the USA."

An US Ambassador has many authorities and powers, financially supporting gays isn't one of them. This is actually funny.
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
982
113
I wouldn't say zero effect because his support was acknowledged. The main factors are probably social media as an effective campaigning and networking platform combined with increasing visibility and social awareness thanks to campaigning and organising by Dominican LGBTQ+ activists dating back many years before Wally arrived in the DR.
 

bob saunders

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
32,504
5,932
113
dr1.com
It was well known that one of our mayors here in Jarabacoa, although married, had a prefrence for teenagers/young men. He still got elected.
 

Caonabo

LIFE IS GOOD
Sep 27, 2017
7,339
2,949
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It was well known that one of our mayors here in Jarabacoa, although married, had a prefrence for teenagers/young men. He still got elected.

The same could be said for some elected officials from Bonao.
 

Caonabo

LIFE IS GOOD
Sep 27, 2017
7,339
2,949
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As mentioned above, I would place greater weight upon social media, as well as persons from Venezuela and Colombia, as opposed to that odd ball from the US of A.
 

Russell

Well-known member
Jun 17, 2017
1,056
337
83
When an American Envoy states that he would financially support a Gay Candidate for Office..... not a good platform to establish political agendas.... He is simply stating his personal preferences and using his post to troll for #@%$(&% , all in the good name of USA.... WTF anyway....!!!
This should be insulting to RD Gay people......

Get voted in on merit and social responsibility.
Not sexual orientation....
Thats enough!
Russell
 

JasonD

Bronze
Feb 10, 2018
1,009
2
38
I guaranteed most of the gay people on the video come from the higher ups of the DR society in SDQ.

The gay movement is very frowned upon by any other layer within the DR, hence the hate and dislike towards the Ambassador in the past.
 

Aguaita29

Silver
Jul 27, 2011
2,618
271
83
I don't think so. The media has been more important in this case. I remember when that Sanchiz guy from Santiago got this tv show which became very popular. Around that time, gay guys started to become popular on tv and more accepted.
I personally someone who got a show at a small town cable tv cannel. I'm telling you, all this was way, way,before Wally Brewster.
 

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
13,370
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I forgot that Hipólito Mejía once had a political movement in Esperanza in an attempt to attract the vote of the local gays. He claims it fail because only 6 people signed up. The name of the movement was “Pájaros con Hipólito” which the literal translation is probably “Faggots with Hipolito.”

Everyone laughs, but he was serious.

[video=youtube;hs6PN9lzqmQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs6PN9lzqmQ[/video]
 

TropicalPaul

Bronze
Sep 3, 2013
1,366
614
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Personally - as someone who is from the LGBT community - I think he probably did have an effect. I know that there were some raised eyebrows, but when someone is brave enough to say things like "why isn't my gay husband invited when other spouses are", the world begins to change. The sufragettes were thought of as freaks in their day, as were a lot of the black rights activists in the US. The one thing that Wally did was forced the government on occasions to choose between pleasing the church, and not p'ssing off the US, and I think by opening up this can of worms he did bring the LGBT agenda into focus.

I keep hearing that Dominicans are homophobic but have honestly found this country to be amongst the most tolerant and accepting in the world, and I know many other LGBT people feel the same. I cannot imagine what would have happened if Wally had been sent to Jamaica for example.
 

aarhus

Long live King Frederik X
Jun 10, 2008
4,412
1,987
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Personally I think he had zero affect on the gay community in the country. There are several politicians, ministers and ex-ministers who are known to be gay but have not "come out of the closet" and I doubt people like Wally would make that happen.While the country is on the whole accepting of gays and lesbians I don't think anyone in a government position would yet feel comfortable in declaring their sexuality - even though it is supposedly common knowledge.

Matilda

Is it not a free choice to choose to be discreet about it or in the closet. I just mean out of principle no matter who it is. Why does someone have to come out ? Did Wally not just encourage them who wanted to come out to feel more comfortable.
 

TropicalPaul

Bronze
Sep 3, 2013
1,366
614
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The phenomenon of Dominican men having same-sex relationships for money, i.e. Bugarrones and Sanky Pankies - is something that is unique to a handful of countries such as Dom Rep, Cuba, Brazil. Even the poorest Jamaicans / Haitians / Barbadians don't tend to have gay affairs for money. In Dom Rep if a guy is having an affair with a richer guy, this seems to be largely accepted, even by his family, although not talked about. There have been several academic studies of this, for example by Mark Padilla:

https://books.google.com.do/books/about/Caribbean_Pleasure_Industry.html?id=h-jhBW8LZeMC&redir_esc=y

The point of this is that there was already a culture of acceptance if straight men strayed into bisexual territory in Dom Rep, which predated Wally. I think that he pushed at an open door but it was also reasonably clear that if he was very open about his sexuality here he wouldn't run into trouble in the way that he would have done in, say, Haiti or Antigua. I think this was a factor when they chose to send him to Dom Rep.
 

TropicalPaul

Bronze
Sep 3, 2013
1,366
614
113
I guaranteed most of the gay people on the video come from the higher ups of the DR society in SDQ.

The gay movement is very frowned upon by any other layer within the DR, hence the hate and dislike towards the Ambassador in the past.

I disagree. The gay movement isn't frowned upon here - I have never experienced any discrimination here, and have not heard of anyone else who has. I keep hearing how homophobic Dominicans are, but I've yet to see one single example. And in my view, most of the hatred towards the ambassador came from a group of bible-thumping red-neck expat Americans who were horrified that their country had sent a gay ambassador instead of burning him at the stake. There were plenty of examples of this on DR1. I stress that I understand that not all Americans thought this way, but some were very vocal in their disgust for the idea of a man holding hands with another man in public.
 

flyinroom

Silver
Aug 26, 2012
3,796
683
113
I think we could argue about how much influence Ambassador Wally Brewster might have had but, to argue that he and/or his appointment had none would be a fool's errand.
Let's not forget that not only was Brewster openly gay, he was also married.
I would imagine that any show of moral support (especially one coming from that great behemoth to the north) would have been welcomed and would have provided considerable comfort to the LGBT community in the D.R.
On top of everything else...
It shone a bright light.
It made people talk, argue. It even indubitably change some minds
It was one step, among many, in the process of normalizing that which had been considered abnormal to so many.


Would anybody care to argue that the t.v.sitcom "Modern Family" had no effect on the swift changeover of public opinion in the U.S.A. on same sex marriage?
Millions of people tuned in, watched and laughed along with Mitch and Cameron every week until...
Poof!
The idea of same sex marriage didn't seem so horrible after all.