Carmen Muñoz is a

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

n politician and

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

. She is the Vice-Minister Of Government and Police named by

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Luis Guillermo Solís Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera (; born 25 April 1958) is a Costa Rican politician and educator who was the 47th President of Costa Rica from 2014 to 2018. He is a member of the Citizens' Action Party (PAC). Solís led the field in the 2014 pre ...

and commissioned to separate and turn it into an independent ministry of the Ministry of Public Security. She was a congresswoman in the

Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica The Legislative Assembly () forms the unicameralism, unicameral legislature, legislative branch of the Politics of Costa Rica, Costa Rican government. The national congress building is located in the capital city, San José, Costa Rica, San Jos� ...

where she headed the Citizen Action Party. To date Muñoz is the only out

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

in parliament or in charge of a ministry. Muñoz was born in

Alajuelita Alajuelita is a district of the Alajuelita canton, in the San José province of Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the nor ...

in Costa Rica. Her father worked at the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity and her mother was a housewife; she has seven brothers. She attended Saint Felipe School and the Liceo of Alajuelita. She left home at the age of fifteen to fight in

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

with the

Sandinistas The Sandinista National Liberation Front (, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto César Sandino, who led the Nicaraguan resistan ...

to overthrow Anastasio Somoza. Afterwards she traveled to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

where she studied history, philosophy and

political economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...

at the Julio Mella school. When she returned she joined the People's Vanguard Party and studied

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

at the National Learning Institute (INA). In 2001 she entered the Citizens' Action Party. Muñoz held several positions in her party including district president, provincial delegate and member of the commission of women of the Citizen Action Party. She produced the radio program ''Las mujeres no'' and coordinated the Patriotic Canton Committee against the free trade treaty with the United States in the period leading up to Costa Rica's

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

on the treaty. Muñoz was elected deputy by the Citizen Action Party for 2010-2014 and was their parliamentary spokesman, the first of the

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comedy ...

for the 2013-2014 period. Muñoz is characterized by her support for

Feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and the fight for equality for the LGBTIQ

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

, as well as promoting

recognition of same-sex unions Recognition may refer to: Machine learning *Pattern recognition, a branch of machine learning which encompasses the meanings below Biometric *Recognition of human individuals, or biometrics, used as a form of identification and access control * ...

Controversy

In May 2013 the congressman and evangelic minister

Justo Orozco Gerardo Justo Orozco Álvarez (born 1950) is a Costa Rican pastor, lawyer, mathematician and politician. Orozco has been member of Congress in two occasions (1998-2002 and 2010-2014) and presidential candidate. Orozco was born in San José, Costa R ...

of the Christian Costa Rican Renewal proposed a motion to exclude Muñoz from the legislative commission that was going to analyse the law project to legalize the unions of same-sex couples, due to what he saw as a conflict of interest. The following day the Legislature gave Muñoz an ovation for her work as a congresswoman and she received flowers from congressmen on both the right and left.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munoz, Carmen Government ministers of Costa Rica Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Costa Rican women journalists Costa Rican lesbians Costa Rican LGBTQ politicians Costa Rican LGBTQ journalists Lesbian politicians Lesbian journalists Citizens' Action Party (Costa Rica) politicians Costa Rican feminists Costa Rican women activists Women government ministers of Costa Rica Members of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica LGBTQ government ministers 21st-century Costa Rican LGBTQ people 21st-century Costa Rican women politicians