Chilean President Offers Civil Unions Bill

Great news from South America. The President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, has introduced legislation to legalize same-sex civil unions.

AFP reports:

"All forms of marriage deserve respect, dignity and the support of the state," said President Sebastian Pinera, who signed the proposal and sent it to Congress.

"This puts opposite-sex and same-sex couples on the same footing, because in both cases it is possible to develop love, affection and respect."

Pinera, who brought conservatives to power after 20 years of center-left rule in the country, grated on his own election campaign when he announced his intention to legalize civil unions for gay couples. He said two million people in Chile live together without marrying.

But the president has repeatedly stressed his opposition to gay marriage.

"I deeply believe that marriage is by nature between a man and a woman, but that conviction does not prevent me from recognizing that other forms of affective relationships exist," he said.

The law would permit gay couples who join into a civil union to have access to inheritance and other social benefits.

Chile is reportedly 80% Catholic and did not legalize divorce until 2004(!). However, Argentina is next door and legalized marriage equality for same-sex coupes in July 2010.

Brazil High Court Legalizes Civil Unions

There is good news from Brazil! The largest country in South America's highest court voted unanimously on Friday to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples.

From Reuters:

The court ruled that gay couples deserve the same legal rights as heterosexual pairs when it comes to alimony, retirement benefits of a partner who dies and inheritances, among other issues.

In Latin America, gay marriage is legal only in Argentina and Mexico City.

Same-sex civil unions granting some rights to homosexual couples are legal in Uruguay and in some states of Mexico outside the capital. Colombia's Constitutional Court has granted same-sex couples inheritance rights and allowed them to add their partners to health insurance plans.

Brazil's ruling sets a judicial precedent that must be honored by all public institutions, including notary publics where civil unions must be registered.

"This is a historic moment for all Brazilians, not just homosexuals. This judgment will change everything for us in society — and for the better," said Marcelo Cerqueira with the gay rights group Grupo Gay da Bahia. "Gays, lesbians and transsexuals will be recognized as being more human. We'll be more accepted by having our rights honored."

Very interesting! I guess I will have to bump Brazil higher on the list of the countries I want to visit. (i'm only going to countries which recognize LGBT civil rights.)

Map Of Average Penis Size Around The World

This map illustrating the geographical distribution of average penis size by country has been whipping around the blogosphere recently.

Since all anyone cares about is the biggest and the smallest, here ya go:

The five most well-endowed nations are:The United States ranks somewhere in the lower-middle of the world penis-size rankings. The average American man has a penis length of 5.1 inches. South Korea is the most poorly endowed nation, coming in at 3.9 inches. Cambodia, Thailand, India, and Burma round out the bottom five.

Hmmm, maybe I need to plan another trip to South America (where Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela are) sooner rather than later....

Remember these are average sizes, so in any population there will be a normal distribution around this average. What we really need to know is how was this information collected (by outside observer or self-reporting) and what's the standard deviation for each number.

I think if most well-travelled gay men were to give their ranking of average penis size by country some other nations would make the top 5. Jus' sayin'.