Event Summary
On 19 March 2026, during the 70th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, the Chilean government under President José Antonio Kast voted against a “no-action motion” that sought to block debate on a U.S.-led resolution aiming to restrict the concept of gender exclusively to “men and women.” By opposing the motion, Chile effectively supported allowing the debate and vote on the U.S. proposal, which disregards internationally recognized understandings of gender identity beyond the binary. Although the no-action motion ultimately passed—preventing the U.S. resolution from being debated—Chile’s vote aligned it with the United States, Pakistan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This decision came just one day after Chile abstained from signing an LGBTIQ+ rights declaration at the Organization of American States (OAS). Civil society organizations, particularly the Movimiento de Integración y Liberación Homosexual (Movilh), condemned the government’s action as an alignment with a regressive international offensive that undermines the rights of trans and gender-diverse persons.