Chilean President-elect Gabriel Boricwho won a runoff election on Dec. 21, 2021named two openly LGBTQ+ people to his Cabinet on Jan. 21, the Los Angeles Blade reported.
Marco Antonio Avila, a gay man, will be the country's education minister; out lesbian Alexandra Benado will be Chile's sports minister.
Several LGBTQ+-rights organizations applauded the move, including Movilh (Movimiento de Integracion y Liberacion Homosexual).
Al Jazeera noted that 14 of Chile's 24 new Cabinet ministers are women. Another (besides Benado) is Defense Minister Maya Fernandeza granddaughter of socialist President Salvador Allende, who was overthrown by a military coup in 1973.
Boric, 35, and his government will take office March 11. Chile's marriage equality law goes into effect the day before.