Parada was born in the commune of
Las Condes. His father is a
Panamanian-Chilean
veterinarian and his mother is a homemaker. He completed his secondary schooling at the
Instituto Presidente Errázuriz, a state-subsidized Catholic boys school. He studied history at
Finis Terrae University, graduating first in his class. In 2011, Parada began his career as a political activist, joining MOVILH and becoming its
spokesperson. In March 2012, after the brutal beating of
Daniel Zamudio by
neo-Nazis because of his
sexual orientation, Parada and MOVILH played an important role in securing legislation introducing severe penalties for
hate crimes on the basis of sexual orientation. That year, with the support of
Marco Enríquez-Ominami's
Progressive Party, Parada launched his candidacy for municipal councilman for the commune of Providencia, winning a four-year term to last until 2016. His victory makes him the first openly gay politician elected in Chilean history. Parada's election was part of a historic election season in which rightwing, mayors Labbé and of
Independencia were defeated and the first two transgender women,
Zuliana Araya in
Valparaíso and
Alejandra González in
Lampa, were also elected. == Electoral history ==