At the shadow of the law. Paragraphs 419 and 323 and the criminalization of homosexuality in Bogota (1890-1980)

• Applicant: Dr. Felipe Caro Romero
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 575827631

This project will analyze the penalization of homosexuality in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, one of the countries with the longest penalization periods in Latin America, from 1890 to 1980. This will be the first scientific work on the subject, using previously unknown documents. The main goals of the research are three: (i) To produce a dataset (the first of its kind in Latin America and the Global South) of the criminal process of people who were arrested under the penalization of homosexuality in the city of Bogotá between 1890 and 1990; (ii) to determine how the penalization of homosexuality operated in the city, what institutions were involved in the process, how they functioned in controlling the sexuality of citizens, and whether or not people developed strategies to live under it; (iii) to understand how penalization affected the gender and sex politics in the country (and the region) beyond its abolition. The database product of this research will be the first of its kind not only in Colombia but in all Latin America. Hopefully this database can set an example that can easily be replicated in other cities (completing thus the research in Colombia) and other countries, allowing future comparative research on sex and gender politics in the continent and then the world.

• DFG Programme: WBP Position