(Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Chilean Congressman Gabriel Boric won the second round of the country’s presidential election Dec. 19.
Boric, who previously led a student protest movement, defeated José Antonio Kast, a far-right former congressman, by a 55.9-44.1% margin. Boric will succeed President Sebastián Piñera when he takes office on March 11.
Boric’s election comes less than two weeks after Piñera signed a marriage equality bill into law.
The law takes effect on March 10.
“Chile has spoken,” tweeted Movilh, a Chilean LGBTQ rights group, after Boric defeated Kast. “Democracy, equality, justice and discrimination advances.”
Chile ya habló. Felicitaciones presidente @gabrielboric. 👏👏👏🏳️⚧️🌈🇨🇱 Avanza la democracia, la igualdad, la justicia y la no discriminación #EleccionesChile2021 #BoricPresidente. pic.twitter.com/cR3wu5kg8g
— Movilh Chile (@Movilh) December 19, 2021
Emilia Schneider, who became the first openly transgender person elected to the Chilean congress last month, also applauded Boric’s election.
“Hope always defeats fear,” tweeted Schneider. “We are going to need the same organization and commitment that we showed in this second round (of the election) to defend a transformative government.”
La esperanza siempre le gana al miedo. Vamos que necesitaremos la misma organización y compromiso que mostramos esta segunda vuelta para defender un gobierno transformador ❤️🌳✊🏻 #BoricPresidente
— Emilia Schneider (@emischneiderv) December 19, 2021
