LGBT organizations in Cochabamba, Bolivia, held their fourth annual Pride event on June 26, marching from Las Banderas plaza to Colón square. Two days later, on June 28, Bolivian LGBT activists celebrated the first official Day of People With Diverse Sexual Orientation, which the government of President Evo Morales created on July 1, 2009 with Supreme Decree 0189. "We want to give an acknowledgment to all those who have been supporting us continually in everything that's a process of making human rights issues visible," said Luis Ayllón Martínez, general director of the organization Equity. (Los Tiempos, Cochabamba, June 27; SentidoG, Buenos Aires, June 28)

Residents of Bogotá, Colombia held their 14th annual Pride event on June 27, marching from the National Park to the Plaza de Bolívar with the slogan: "Neither sick nor antisocial, proudly LGBT." Cali and Medellín have been celebrating Pride for several years, but the country's fourth largest city, Barranquilla, still doesn't have a Pride event, although it holds an LGBT march during the Carnaval (Mardi Gras) celebration. (Ensentidocontrario.com, July 3)

From Weekly News Update on the Americas, July 4.