Since I was doing the public penises of Central America and the Caribbean, I thought I would South America as well. I visited Colombia once, 30 years ago, but otherwise it is completely uncharted territory.
But it looks like most countries in South America match Europe in the size and complexity of their gay communities, and in the legislative response: no sodomy laws, same-sex partnerships, anti-discrimination laws.
And, especially in the countries straddling the equator, ample beefcake.
Here are the top 12 public penises of South America:
1. If you work your way down from the public penises of the Caribbean, the first country you hit is
Venezuela, In Maracaibo, a buffed Saint Sebastian is falling out of his clothes as he's pierced by arrows beside a concrete tree.
2. Next come three colonies or recent colonies.
Guyana is the only South American state that still has sodomy laws (what do you expect from a former British colony?).
This monument in Georgetown depicts Kuffy, the leader of a slave revolt in 1763. He's not doing what you think.
3.
Suriname is a former Dutch colony, so Dutch is still the official language. A muscular freed slave named Kwakoe, is the symbol of the city of Parimaribo. He's regularly dressed by clubs and organizations, and the Surinamian community in the Netherlands holds an annual Kwakoe Festival.
4.
Guiana (not to be confused with Guyana) is a department of France. The capital is Cayenne, but the economy has nothing to do with pepper.
At the entrance to the city, three people holding up a pyramid symbolize the African, European, and Indian races who constitute Guiana. The Indian apparently has quite an endowment.
5. Also in Cayenne, you can see a statue of French abolitionist Victor Schoelcher freeing a grateful slave in a loincloth.
More after the break.
6. So far we've been straddling the Caribbean. Next on our way south is Brazil, one of the largest and most populous countries in the world, and as my old geography textbooks used to say, "a study in contrast." First stop, Manaus, on the Amazon, the gateway to the territories of protected and uncontacted rainforest tribes.
Manaus itself is a modern city with skyscrapers and an international airport. It also has its share of neoclassical architecture, like this semi-nude lamp outside the Teatro Amazona
7. There are also some neoclassical nude males in the theater district of Sao Paulo.
8. But the most intriguing of Sao Paulo's statues is Event Horizon, Anthony Gormley's series of 27 fiberglass figures of naked men placed at strategic locations to illustrate the isolation of modern life. They were in London and New York before making their way to Sao Paulo in 2012.
9. Strangely, I didn't find a lot of beefcake art in Brasilia, the capital, but Argentina, to the south, more than makes up for it. Like this monument to work, Canto al Trabajo, in Buenos Aires. It seems to be praising mostly nude male workers.
10. I don't know what this is. Maybe the same monument.
11. And
El Arquero de San Sebastian, "The Archer of Saint Sebastian," by Alberto Lobos.
12. Puerto Madryn, in Patagonia in the deep south of Argentina (and actually the deep south of the whole world), features this monument to the Tehuelche Indians. They wore few clothes, even though Patagonia is quite frigid, and were reputed to be giants.
See also:
The Top 12 Public Penises of the Caribbean; The
Top 12 Public Penises of South America 2: The West.
