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[SANTIAGO DE CHILE, 25 August 2009] – Chilean NGO Movimiento de Integración y Liberación Homosexual (Movilh) has published a bill to rescind a law which in practice prevents a homosexual minor from having sexual relations with someone over 18 – an offence currently punishable by up to three years imprisonment. The bill is already being processed by parliament. It is sponsored by six members of parliament, five of whom belong to the ruling coalition and one to the right-wing opposition. The initiative seeks to abolish article 365 of the Penal Code, which in practice fixes 18 as the age at which young homosexuals can consent to a sexual relationship with over 18s, while for heterosexuals this age is established at 14. The legal text states that “having sex with a person under-18 years of age of the same sex, where the circumstances of rape are not present, will be punishable by a light to medium prison sentence",or between 61 days and three years' imprisonment. President of Movilh, Rolando Jiménez, explained that homosexuality was legalised in 1999, but in his opinion, another kind of inequality has emerged which predominantly affects young people. There is no law which prohibits homosexual relationships if both parties are minors, Jiménez told EFE. According to Movilh, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child established in 2007 that “punishing sexual relationships where both young people consent is discriminatory” and urged the Chilean State to rectify this situation before 12 September 2012. In accordance with projections by the National Institute of Statistics, around 126,000 men and 64,000 women aged 15-29 in Chile have sexual relationships with people of the same sex... To accompany the bill, Movilh has prepared an awareness raising campaign which will include positioning posters in public and private spaces in the cities of Santiago, La Serena, Valparaíso, Talca, Chillán, Temuco, Puerto Montt and Punta Arenas. With this initiative, Movilh announced that it has already presented a number of legislative proposals on the subject of sexual diversity to the National Congress. These include proposals relating to civil union, marriage and gender identity, among others. Further information