https://costarica.polivoxia.com/ An archive documenting transphobia and the state of trans rights in Costa Rica. https://costarica.polivoxia.com/president-warns-frente-amplio-she-will-not-allow-gender-ideology-back-into-schools/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/president-warns-frente-amplio-she-will-not-allow-gender-ideology-back-into-schools/Sat, 25 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +00002026 July 25 Speaking at a municipal council meeting in Nicoya, President Laura Fernandez warned deputies and former deputies of the left-wing Frente Amplio party that, for as long as she remains president, she will not permit former Frente Amplio lawmakers to enter classrooms. S... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/genocide-watch-classifies-costa-rica-at-stage-3-discrimination/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/genocide-watch-classifies-costa-rica-at-stage-3-discrimination/Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +00002026 July In its July 2026 country report, the human rights monitoring organization Genocide Watch classified Costa Rica at Stage 3: Discrimination. The report cited the government’s crackdowns on LGBTQ+ rights, restrictions on press freedom, rising crime, and inaction on r... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/genocide-watch-country-report-classifies-costa-rica-at-stage-3/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/genocide-watch-country-report-classifies-costa-rica-at-stage-3/Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +00002026 July Genocide Watch published a country report on Costa Rica, authored by Juliana Girotto, classifying the country at Stage 3: Discrimination. The classification cites the government’s crackdowns on LGBTQ+ rights, restrictions on press freedom, its handling of crime, i... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/president-declares-gender-ideology-is-water-under-the-bridge-removed-from-school-protocols/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/president-declares-gender-ideology-is-water-under-the-bridge-removed-from-school-protocols/Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +00002026 July 15 President Laura Fernández publicly declared that “the issue of gender ideology, thank God, is now water under the bridge in this country,” and affirmed that her government ensures education is “impartial” and “not sexualized.” She... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/costa-rica-rejects-gender-terminology-at-the-un-limiting-gender-to-two-sexes/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/costa-rica-rejects-gender-terminology-at-the-un-limiting-gender-to-two-sexes/Wed, 08 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +00002026 July 8 At a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Costa Rica’s delegation formally rejected the terms “reproductive violence”, “patriarchal masculinity” and “intersectionality”, arguing that these concepts hav... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/genocide-watch-questions-whether-costa-rica-is-up-to-date-on-human-rights/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/genocide-watch-questions-whether-costa-rica-is-up-to-date-on-human-rights/Wed, 01 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +00002026 July 1 The international human rights organization Genocide Watch published an analysis challenging the Costa Rican government’s claim that the country is “up to date” on human rights and has no pending tasks regarding the protection of LGBTQI+ minorities.... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/public-employees-union-rejects-presidents-claim-that-costa-rica-treats-lgbtiq-people-equally/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/public-employees-union-rejects-presidents-claim-that-costa-rica-treats-lgbtiq-people-equally/Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +00002026 June 9 The Diversity Section of the National Association of Public and Private Employees (ANEP), one of Costa Rica's largest unions, issued a public statement rejecting President Laura Fernández's assertion that the country is "up to date" on LGBTIQ+ rights and that all peop... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/activists-warn-of-lgbtiq-rights-backsliding-civil-registry-blocks-trans-name-changes/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/activists-warn-of-lgbtiq-rights-backsliding-civil-registry-blocks-trans-name-changes/Mon, 08 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +00002026 June 8 A La Nación investigation compiled the setbacks in LGBTIQ+ rights that activists and organizations say have accumulated in Costa Rica in recent years. Among the barriers that most directly affect trans people, the report highlights that the Civil Registry has been rej... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/activists-warn-costa-rica-has-regressed-20-years-in-lgbtiq-rights/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/activists-warn-costa-rica-has-regressed-20-years-in-lgbtiq-rights/Mon, 08 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +00002026 June 8 In a feature published on June 8, 2026, the Costa Rican daily La Nación documented the alarms raised by activists over the sustained rollback of LGBTIQ+ and trans rights in the country. Former LGBTI Commissioner Ricardo Sossa summarized the concern bluntly: “We... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/civil-registry-rejects-non-binary-name-changes-under-an-arbitrary-criterion/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/civil-registry-rejects-non-binary-name-changes-under-an-arbitrary-criterion/Sun, 07 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +00002026 June 07 An investigation by La Nación found that Costa Rica’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) and its Civil Registry are rejecting a growing share of gender identity name change requests, applying a criterion the newspaper describes as arbitrary. Registry staff indivi... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/president-claims-costa-rica-is-up-to-date-on-rights-plans-to-pull-country-from-un-diversity-forums/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/president-claims-costa-rica-is-up-to-date-on-rights-plans-to-pull-country-from-un-diversity-forums/Wed, 03 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +00002026 June 3 President Laura Fernandez, defending the appointment of Boris Marchegiani as Costa Rica's representative to the United Nations, said she no longer wants the country to participate in international forums focused on rights and diversity, claiming Costa Rica is already... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/court-unable-to-serve-former-president-chaves-in-damages-suit-over-pride-march-declaration/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/court-unable-to-serve-former-president-chaves-in-damages-suit-over-pride-march-declaration/Thu, 28 May 2026 12:00:00 +00002026 May 28 A Costa Rican Administrative Court has been unable to locate former president Rodrigo Chaves to formally serve him with a civil lawsuit seeking to hold him personally liable for damages, stemming from his 2024 revocation of the cultural interest declaration granted to... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/president-insists-on-being-called-presidente-not-presidenta-to-reject-gender-ideology/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/president-insists-on-being-called-presidente-not-presidenta-to-reject-gender-ideology/Fri, 08 May 2026 11:00:00 +00002026 May 8 On the day she was sworn in as Costa Rica’s 50th head of state, Laura Fernández announced she would reject the feminine form “presidenta” and require that she be addressed as “presidente”, a decision she framed as a repudiation of what she called “gender ideology.” Fer... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/conservative-bill-seeks-to-reinstate-sex-of-birth-on-id-cards/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/conservative-bill-seeks-to-reinstate-sex-of-birth-on-id-cards/Thu, 30 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +00002026 April 30 Deputy Pablo Sibaja, of the conservative party Nueva República, filed a bill in the Legislative Assembly to reinstate the sex-of-birth field on Costa Rica’s national identity card (cédula). The Supreme Electoral Court had removed that field in 2018 to prevent stigma... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/lgbtiq-organizations-denounce-the-government-s-hello-brete-platform-for-collecting-sensitive-data-on-sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/lgbtiq-organizations-denounce-the-government-s-hello-brete-platform-for-collecting-sensitive-data-on-sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity/Thu, 23 Apr 2026 15:00:00 +00002026 April 23 A coalition of 23 organizations and 93 LGBTIQ+ activists filed a complaint with Costa Rica’s Ombudsman’s Office (Defensoria de los Habitantes) over the registration form of “Hello Brete”, a government-promoted English-training program run thr... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/coadyuvancia-filed-at-sala-iv-to-set-precedent-in-incofer-transphobia-case/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/coadyuvancia-filed-at-sala-iv-to-set-precedent-in-incofer-transphobia-case/Tue, 21 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +00002026 April 21 Attorney Jota Vargas Alvarado and human rights defender Janekeith Durán Barberena filed a formal coadyuvancia (third-party legal joinder) before Costa Rica's Constitutional Chamber (Sala IV) in support of the amparo brought by a trans woman against the Instituto Cos... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/costa-rica-withdraws-from-oas-lgbti-core-group/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/costa-rica-withdraws-from-oas-lgbti-core-group/Tue, 07 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +00002026 April 7 The Costa Rican government announced its withdrawal from the LGBTI Core Group of the Organization of American States (OAS), ending a decade of active participation in the regional forum dedicated to advancing the human rights of LGBTIQ+ people. Foreign Minister Arnol... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/organizations-reject-government-s-claim-of-full-protection-after-costa-rica-leaves-oas-lgbti-core-group/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/organizations-reject-government-s-claim-of-full-protection-after-costa-rica-leaves-oas-lgbti-core-group/Tue, 07 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +00002026 April 7 After the Chaves government announced Costa Rica’s withdrawal from the LGBTI Core Group of the Organization of American States (OAS), Foreign Minister Arnoldo André justified the decision by claiming the country had “completed full protection of the right... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/transphobic-discrimination-at-incofer-railway-station/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/transphobic-discrimination-at-incofer-railway-station/Tue, 07 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +00002026 April 7 A trans woman filed an amparo (constitutional protection) before Costa Rica's Sala IV after being a victim of transphobic discrimination at the Estación del Atlántico, operated by the Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles (INCOFER). Security personnel denied her a... https://costarica.polivoxia.com/anti-gender-agenda-dominates-costa-ricas-2026-elections/https://costarica.polivoxia.com/anti-gender-agenda-dominates-costa-ricas-2026-elections/Thu, 29 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +00002026 January 29 Ahead of Costa Rica's February 2026 general elections, a feminist analysis published by Ojalá examines how conservative and right-wing political forces have systematically attacked gender-based violence prevention and trans rights during the Chaves administration....