Homosexuality is not illegal in Guatemala, and since the 1990s, toward the end of the country’s 36-year-long civil war, the LGBTIQ+ community has become more visible within society. But same-sex marriage and civil unions are not legal; LGBTIQ+ people aren’t specifically included in most anti-discrimination laws; ultra-conservative religious movements are politically influential; and hate crimes continue to take a violent toll on the community.

On the night of 20 July, a group of people were also harassed by police on the street in front of a bar that is locally-known to be friendly to LGBTIQ+ people. Together these incidents were seen by rights activists that I spoke to as an extreme acceleration in already growing aggression towards the community, amidst mainstream hate speech and homophobic elections campaigns.

They said the police’s role in the night’s events was particularly concerning. And they warned that the worst is likely yet to come, as this weekend Guatemalans vote in the second round of presidential elections where both candidates, Sandra Torres and Alejandro Giammattei, of the UNE and Vamos parties respectively, have taken public positions against LGBTIQ+ rights.

In their campaigns, each of these candidates committed to passing a so-called ‘Protection of the Family Law’ to prohibit the possibility of marriage equality, criminalise “sodomy” and all education on questions of sexual diversity, and ban abortions under all circumstances. This bill, drafted by religious conservative groups, is waiting for its third and final vote in Congress.

Over the last year, this proposed legislation has become a “political football”, said Sandra Morán, Guatemala's first openly lesbian congresswoman who is leaving office at the end of 2019 after she was not chosen for re-election by her party. She told me this bill had been placed on Congress’s agenda, several times, during key political moments to distract people from other issues such as the fight against corruption, or to garner conservative support for the current government.

Dávila, the second openly LGBTIQ+ politician elected to Congress, in June, also described how hate speech against the community was being used to sow divisions and drive voters to the most hardline political factions. “They need an internal enemy, to maintain the population divided and now that we are not at war any more our community is an easy target”, he told me.