This month’s Playboy features the following excerpt from an editorial that pop music legend Sir Elton John wrote for the U.K.’s Guardian on his 60th birthday:

Last year William Hernández had a gun pressed against his neck as he stood in the street outside the El Salvador offices of his gay rights organisation, Entre Amigos. William and his colleagues speak out for gay rights in El Salvador and had been protesting against political moves to amend the constitution to formally prevent gay marriage.

When a high-profile aging queen who’s done more for gay rights than any other aging queen shouts out a humble Latino, the world takes notice of the fact that homosexuality isn’t accepted in Latin America these days.

Maybe things will change in twenty years when a country in the region legalizes civil unions the way John’s homeland of the U.K. did 18 months ago. Until then, we’ll just have to wait for his commemorative release of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” en español.

Shout the bigots down [The Guardian]
Image [Intelligent Humor]