October 13, 2007 | Sex & Society

Hugo Chavez pro-gay?

Are we allowed to applaud the work of a dictator?

Well, we're going to. Without endorsing a man who has limited the real freedoms of most of the people in Venezuela -- not very nice! -- President Hugo Chavez is planning one surprisingly progressive move: he wants to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation. That's right, Chavez is proving that at least on this political hot topic he's a little more advanced and open minded than freedom fighter President Bush.

However, Chavez's pro-gay stance has nothing to do with recent rumors of his own queer leanings. “I’ve been accused of everything,” he claimed at a rally in Barquisimeto. “The only thing they haven’t accused me of is being homosexual. Well, now they’ve started to accuse me of being homosexual. I don’t have anything against homosexuals because I respect whichever human condition, but the thing is: I consider myself sufficiently macho to pulverize any accusation along those lines."

We think he's getting ready to ask fellow socialist Fidel Castro to marry him. What do you get two dictators who have everything?