Gay Marriage Foe Elected in Costa Rica

Bunch of gringo fags spreading your filt in Costa Rica country. Long live Laura Chinchilla!

Yes, I´m a costarican and yes I don´t go along with the current president´s policies. That doesn´t mean that I should feel ashamed of my homecountry. Bahl, your comments are terribly irresponsible, biased and disrespectful, If I made the same comments reggarding your country you would feel offended too. Costa Rica as any country has its assets and its flaws..Jingoism is bigotry too.

Alright, Costa Rican politics are as f@ck3d up as anywhere else in the world. Sadly, the Costa Rican mob, is as brainwashed as any other mass culture, such as in the one in USA. It's always the intelligentsia and the minorities the ones that are less selfish and more understandable of the current situations because of their isolation/discrimination in society and their ability to question what the government or any other country-related entity says. The fact that this woman's body with the mentality of a neo-liberalist white closed minded pig is now going to govern the executive branch of Costa Rica, should NOT be a STOP sign for people to go and visit this beautiful country. I was born and raised there and is somewhat conservative, but there are spots for LGBT people to go in a fair amount of places, both touristy and non-touristy. Furthermore, people have to remember that the power of any country with checks and balances lies, in reality, in the congress and not in the president.

just one thing... as a costarican i say (and my words represent a large part of the population) that Laura Chinchilla is not my president, do not represent me, and we're not gonna let her to sell our country. She won, yes, but not with the people that thinks, she won with the people that voted for her because was a woman, that voted for her because they've always voted for the PLN, because they were too poor to reject a bonus for a house, not because they wanted her ideas, not because they read their plan of government. So the part of the population that didn't vote for her, is the one that know what this government is really about, is the one that have the enough education to fight for their rights, to say that this is not OK, that she is not going to do what ever she wants with OUR country.

I wonder if the gay community is fully accepted all over the US?, gay marriage is not even something you have on your own country, why are you surprised you can't have it in CR? A catholic, religious and still in development country.

As a Costa Rican, I feel like my country is getting quite an unfair treatment by the commenters. Yes, it is true that the evangelical church did an anti gay marriage rally last year. However, it seems to be forgotten the fact that marching in front of them were a group of young people spreading a message of tolerance. In the middle of their rally there were those who represented that in Costa Rica, there are plenty of people who refuse to promote intolerance. Even if our newly elected president is sadly an intolerant woman, it doesn't make Costa Rica an intolerant country. There are plenty of people, college students, politicians, professors, from all walks of life, gay and straight who will continue to fight for this rights and won't give up until we have a truly equal society.

Costa Rica is a lousy vacation/retirement destination anyway. There is a very high crime rate, with tourists especially targeted. Everyone must live behind large walls, topped with razor wire, with bars on the windows and industrial strength locks. And despite this fact almost everyone I know there has been robbed, a few have been hit multiple times. As far as retirement goes, would you want to spend your aging years in a nation without any ambulance service, where the roads and traffic are horrendous and the nearest hospital could be hours away? Good luck getting a cell phone utilities in your name there, unless you are willing to pay a lawyer to set up a dummy corporation that you put everything into. And enjoy the lame level of customer service from the majority of service providers who act like they couldn't care less how much you plan to spend with them.

I've been to Costa Rica multiple times because my boyfriend of 2 years is a Tico [Costa Rican]. I'd say its about the equivalent of a city like Columbus Ohio...Gay-friendly enough to be safe to walk around in, but not comfortable enough to be showing affection in public without getting some rude looks/comments. Ticos are generally very laid back and not about to get up in anyones business... They're based on a Catholic tradition while being laid back at the same time. I'm sure you can find your random hate-crimes statistic just like you can in the states, or Europe.. but Costa Rica has gay clubs all over the place, and usually very tolerant people. The Nicaraguans and Jamaicans are the problem, to be honest.

Well, we're all free to do what we want, but I won't be vacationing in Costa Rica or retiring there. Getting to sit in the back of the bus isn't good enough for me. And I won't intentionally buy anything made or grown there either. It's a small start. I really think we should harness our buying power with a sorta lgbtq version of Amazon.com so that OUR money goes where WE want it to. The profits can support groups that promote AIDS prevention, fight breast cancer, and to other worthy causes. And our political donations should go through an lgbtq PAC that gets results. I sometimes wonder how straight individuals that support our oppression can live with themselves. What's wrong sweetie, can't handle a level playing field? How pathetic.

Bitch!