Jaime Parada

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Jaime Parada Hoyl

| image = Jaime Parada Hoyl.jpg

| caption = Parada Hoyl in 2013.

| office = Councilman for Providencia

| term_start = December 6, 2012

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1977|11|2}}

| birth_place = {{flagicon|Chile}} Santiago, Chile

| party = Progressive

| alma_mater = Finis Terrae University, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

| occupation =, politician

}}

José Jaime Parada Hoyl (born November 2, 1977, in Santiago, Chile) is a Chilean gay rights activist and politician who became the first openly gay person elected to public office in Chile. He serves as the spokesperson for Movimiento de Integración y Liberación Homosexual, the leading Chilean gay rights organization. He was elected councilman for his home commune of Providencia for the 2012–2016 term.{{cite news|first=Felipe|last=Vargas M.|title=Homosexuales al poder: Quiénes son los que saldrán del clóset político en las municipales|url=http://www.emol.com/noticias/nacional/2012/05/25/542333/homosexuales-al-poder-quienes-son-los-que-saldran-del-closet-politico-en-las-municipales.html|accessdate=August 31, 2012|newspaper=El Mercurio|language=Spanish}}

Biography

Parada was born in the commune of Las Condes. His father is a Panamanian-Chilean veterinarian and his mother is a homemaker.{{cite web|author=Jaime Parada Hoyl|title=Mi biografía en imágenes (álbum de imágenes)|website=Facebook |url=http://www.facebook.com/JaimeParadaxProvidencia|accessdate=August 31, 2012|language=Spanish}} He completed his secondary schooling at the Instituto Presidente Errázuriz, a state-subsidized Catholic boys school. He studied history at Finis Terrae University, graduating first in his class. He is currently a doctoral candidate of history at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in the area of the social history of science. At Finis Terrae, Parada served as the director of the School of History and the research and archives coordinator of the Centro de Investigación y Documentación en Historia de Chile Contemporáneo ("Center for Research and Documentation of Contemporary Chilean History") from 2010 to 2011.

In June 2010, Parada came to prominence after his article "El matrimonio gay en cartas" ("Gay marriage in letters") was published in the newspaper The Clinic. It consisted of a series of e-mails exchanged Parada and a family member on in support of gay marriage, which was not then recognized by the state.{{cite web|author=The Clinic|title=El matrimonio gay en cartas|url=http://www.theclinic.cl/2011/07/10/el-matrimonio-gay-en-cartas/|accessdate=August 30, 2012|date=June 10, 2011|language=Spanish}} In 2011, Parada began his career as a political activist, joining MOVILH and becoming its spokesperson. In March 2012, after the brutal beating of Daniel Zamudio by neo-Nazis because of his sexual orientation, Parada and MOVILH played an important role in securing legislation introducing severe penalties for hate crimes on the basis of sexual orientation. That year, with the support of Marco Enríquez-Ominami's Progressive Party, Parada launched his candidacy for municipal councilman for the commune of Providencia, winning a four-year term to last until 2016. Parada was backed by Josefa Errázuriz, who successfully ran for mayor of Providencia, against the conservative incumbent, Cristián Labbé, whom Parada has referred to as a “recalcitrant fascist” for his support of the Pinochet regime.{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonblade.com/2012/11/19/chile-elects-first-openly-gay-politician/|title=Chilean voters elect country's first openly gay politician|author=Michael K. Lavers|date=November 19, 2012|accessdate=February 11, 2013|newspaper=Washington Blade}} His victory makes him the first openly gay politician elected in Chilean history.{{cite web |url=http://www.cooperativa.cl/noticias/pais/politica/municipales/movilh-celebro-triunfo-electoral-de-su-vocero-jaime-parada/2012-10-29/113623.html |title=Movilh celebró triunfo electoral de su vocero Jaime Parada|accessdate=October 29, 2012|author=Radio Cooperativa|author-link=Radio Cooperativa|date=October 29, 2012|quote=En la elección del día de ayer "Jaime Parada, fue elegido concejal por Providencia, siendo el primer hombre gay fuera del armario en ocupar un cargo de elección popular" en el país.}} Parada's election was part of a historic election season in which rightwing, mayors Labbé and {{Interlanguage link|Antonio Garrido Mardones|es|3=Antonio Garrido Mardones|lt=Antonio Garrido}} of Independencia were defeated and the first two transgender women, Zuliana Araya in Valparaíso and Alejandra González in Lampa, were also elected.{{cite news|url=http://www.lanacion.cl/movilh-celebra-concejales-homosexuales-y-derrotas-de-garrido-y-labbe/noticias/2012-10-29/153335.html|accessdate=February 11, 2013|date=October 29, 2012|title=MOVILH Celebra Concejales Homosexuales y Derrotas de Garrido y Labbé|newspaper=La Nación|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052646/http://www.lanacion.cl/movilh-celebra-concejales-homosexuales-y-derrotas-de-garrido-y-labbe/noticias/2012-10-29/153335.html|url-status=dead}}