LGBT in Mexico
Encyclopedia
LGBT rights
In November 2006, the Law for Coexistence Partnerships was enacted in the Federal District. Called "gay law" in the mass media, this legal arrangement is not orientated exclusively to the homosexual population. The law - in effect since its publication in the official newspaper of the capital city government on 16 March 2007 - gives almost the same rights as a married couple within the limits of the Federal District, with the exception of adoption
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
. The first Mexican state to legalize civil unions was Coahuila
Coahuila
Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico...
on 11 January 2007, under the name of "civil solidarity agreement". The Coahuilan congress modified the civil code to introduce the new form of cohabitation. The law allows similar rights to marriage, but prohibits adoption by same-sex couples. On March 4, 2010, Mexico City's law allowing same-sex marriage took effect, despite an appeal by the Attorney-General of the Republic, making Mexico the first Latin American country to allow same-sex marriage by non-judicial means. On 12 March 2010 Mexico City held its first same-sex wedding, which will be recognized throughout the Mexican territory.
In spite of these advances, in 2006, the Mexican population was primarily against same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
. In a survey by Parametría, 61% of those surveyed responded "no" when asked if they supported an amendment to the constitution to legalize gay marriage. Only some 17% responded affirmatively and some 14% did not give an opinion. In the same survey, some 41% were against the possibility of giving the same rights enjoyed by a married couple to a registered same-sex couple, only 28% supporting this possibility.
LGBT movement
- For further information, see LGBT movement in Mexico.
LGBT people in Mexico have organized in a variety of ways, through local organizations, marches, and the development of a Commission to Denounce Hate Crimes. Mexico has a thriving LGBT movement
LGBT social movements
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender social movements share inter-related goals of social acceptance of sexual and gender minorities. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies have a long history of campaigning for what is generally called LGBT rights, also called gay...
with organizations in various large cities
Metropolitan areas of Mexico
Metropolitan areas in Mexico have been traditionally defined as the group of municipalities that heavily interact with each other, usually around a core city...
throughout the country and numerous LGBT publications. More prominently in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey
Monterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
, Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
and Puebla
Puebla, Puebla
The city and municipality of Puebla is the capital of the state of Puebla, and one of the five most important colonial cities in Mexico. Being a planned city, it is located to the east of Mexico City and west of Mexico's main port, Veracruz, on the main route between the two.The city was founded...
. The vast majority of them at the local level, with national efforts often coming apart before they begin.
Societal prejudices and terminologies
Anthropologist Joseph M. Carrier suggests that, unlike the U.S., in Mexico a man's masculine gender and heterosexual identity are not threatened by a homosexual act as long as he plays the inserter's role. Only the male who plays the passive sexual role and exhibits feminine gender characteristicsEffeminacy
Effeminacy describes traits in a human male, that are more often associated with traditional feminine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or gender roles rather than masculine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or roles....
is considered to be truly homosexual and is, therefore, stigmatized.
The terms used to refer to homosexual Mexican men are generally coded with gendered meaning drawn from the inferior position of women in patriarchal Mexican society. The most benign of the contemptuous terms is maricón, a label that highlights the non-conforming gender attributes of the (feminine) homosexual man, equivalent to sissy
Sissy
Sissy is a pejorative term for a boy or man who violates or does not meet the traditional male gender role. Generally, sissy implies a lack of the courage and stoicism which are thought important to the male role...
or fairy
Fairy
A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
in American English
American English
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
. Terms such as joto or puto, on the other hand, speak to the passive sexual role taken by these men rather than merely their gender attributes, according to Carrier. They are more derogatory and vulgar in that they underscore the sexually non-conforming nature of their passive/receptive position in the homosexual act. The invective associated with all these appellations speaks to the way effeminate homosexual men are viewed as having betrayed the Mexican man's prescribed gender and sexual role. There are also some regional variants such as leandro, lilo, mariposón, puñal, among others.
Carrier also suggests that homosexuality is rigidly circumscribed by the prominent role the family plays in structuring homosexual activity. In Mexico, the traditional family remains a crucial institution that defines both gender and sexual relations between men and women. The concealment, suppression or prevention of any open acknowledgment of homosexual activity underscores the stringency of cultural dictates surrounding gender and sexual norms between Mexican family life. Overall, however, men and women who self-identify as homosexuals in urban areas have created social network
Social network
A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
s and found public spaces for socialization
Socialization
Socialization is a term used by sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists, political scientists and educationalists to refer to the process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs and ideologies...
without much social interference. Because of Mexican expectations that sexual differences be dealt with "sexual silence" and fear of discrimination in the family, school and workplace, it is commons for gay men and lesbians to be cautious in disclosing their sexual orientation. Leading "double lives" is often seen as necessary to ensure that one's connections with non-homosexual world
Heterosexism
Heterosexism is a system of attitudes, bias, and discrimination in favor of opposite-sex sexuality and relationships. It can include the presumption that everyone is heterosexual or that opposite-sex attractions and relationships are the only norm and therefore superior...
remain intact.
Some 71% of Mexican youth would not approve if the same rights were given to homosexuals as heterosexuals. A 2006 survey states that 33% of Mexicans feel aversion for homosexuals, some 40% don't like politicians who emphasize homosexuality, and some 32% don't like homosexual neighbors. Homophobia is also deeply rooted in the family. In 2004 only 4 families of those murdered in homophobic crimes, of a total of 26, offered to give information on the matter to a commission that was investigation. In Mexico City, in 2004, of 125 corpses of homosexuals, only 75 were claimed by their relatives; for 13 others, the family came only to the identification; the family of the rest did not approach the funeral home
Funeral home
A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the deceased and their families. These services may include aprepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral....
, despite having been informed. There exist signs that Mexican youth are being committed to psychiatric clinics after coming out to family. Some 16% have been rejected by family, and a greater percentage have been physically attacked by relatives.
Popular culture encourages this attitude. The rock group Molotov
Molotov (band)
Molotov is a four-time Latin Grammy Award-winning Mexican rock band formed in Mexico City on September 23, 1995. Their lyrics feature a mixture of Spanish and English, rapped and sung by all members of the group. Musically, Molotov blends heavy basslines with heavy guitar riffs...
published in 1997, on their album ¿Dónde Jugarán las Niñas?
¿Dónde Jugarán las Niñas?
-Sales:* 2x Platinum Record in Spain* 4x Gold Record in Mexico* Golden Record in Argentina and Colombia.* Platinum Record in Chile and United States.-Sales and certifications:...
, the song "Puto
Puto (song)
Puto is a song by the Mexican band Molotov from their album ¿Dónde Jugarán las Niñas?. The word puto literally translates as "man-whore", which is often used as a derogatory term for gay males in Mexican Spanish, similar to the American slang word faggot. It is also used to mean "bastard". However...
". The lyrics of the song contain phrases like "Marica nena mas bien putín, Puto nace, puto se muere, Amo a matón / matarile al maricón / ¿¡y que quiere este hijo de puta!? / quiere llorar, Puto, le faltan tanates al / ¡puto! / le falta topiates / ¡puto! / le faltan tanates al puto puto". The producer, Gustavo Santaolalla
Gustavo Santaolalla
Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla is an Argentine musician, film composer and producer. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score in two consecutive years, for Brokeback Mountain in 2005 and Babel in 2006.-Life and career:...
, in some statements to the magazine Retila
Retila
Retila Magazine was founded in Los Angeles in 1995 by Guillermo Quezada, Rafael Martinez and Frank Barbano. The pocket-size magazine was one of the very first full-color magazine that focus in the Spanish Rock movement of the early 90's. Retila published 20 volumes between 1995 and 2000. The free...
, stated that the word "puto" had not been used in the sense of "gay", but in the sense of "coward" or "loser", which is also used in Mexico.
The consequences for the LGBT community are shown in the UAM study, which states that 27% of LGBT persons studied suffer mental disorders and risk of alcoholism, some 40% have thoughts of suicide and 25% have attempted it.
Machismo
According to Andrew A. Reding, homosexuals remain for the most part invisible, for two reasons.The first, which helps explain why there are no residential gay districts in Mexico, is that Mexicans tend to reside with their families far longer than their counterparts in the U.S. This is in part for economic reasons. Low incomes and scarce housing keep many living with their parents. So does the fact that in the absence of a government social welfare system, the family is the primary bulwark of social security. Even wealthy Mexican homosexuals often continue to live at home, acquiring a separate lodging as a meeting place for their sexual partners.The second major reason gay men and lesbians remain invisible is the strong social stigma attached to homosexuality, particularly where it comes into conflict with the highly-accentuated and differentiated sex roles prescribed by machismo
Machismo
Machismo, or machoism, is a word of Spanish and Portuguese origin that describes prominently exhibited or excessive masculinity. As an attitude, machismo ranges from a personal sense of virility to a more extreme male chauvinism...
.
But machismo is as much about power relationships among men as it is about establishing the
dominance of men over women.
Machismo
Machismo
Machismo, or machoism, is a word of Spanish and Portuguese origin that describes prominently exhibited or excessive masculinity. As an attitude, machismo ranges from a personal sense of virility to a more extreme male chauvinism...
has important implications for how most Mexicans view homosexuality. Homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
is far more intensely directed against those who violate norms of male and female conduct. That is especially pronounced among men, where effeminate behavior
Effeminacy
Effeminacy describes traits in a human male, that are more often associated with traditional feminine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or gender roles rather than masculine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or roles....
elicits far greater levels of social disapproval than does homosexuality per se. In the machista perspective, a man's greatest offense against the norm is to not act like a man
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
. Effeminacy
Effeminacy
Effeminacy describes traits in a human male, that are more often associated with traditional feminine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or gender roles rather than masculine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or roles....
and cross-dressing
Cross-dressing
Cross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser...
are serious violations of the masculine ideal. But the greatest transgression is for a man to assume the sexual role of a woman in intercourse. The man who penetrates another man remains masculine. The man who is penetrated loses his masculinity, and incurs by far the greater social stigma. The focus on masculinity
Masculinity
Masculinity is possessing qualities or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a man. The term can be used to describe any human, animal or object that has the quality of being masculine...
has serious consequences. It means that most Mexican gay or bisexual males, regardless of the sexual roles they assume in private, are at pains to project a manly image in public. The relative few who are unable to do so are therefore highly exposed and subject to ridicule and harassment
Harassment
Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour intended to disturb or upset, and it is characteristically repetitive. In the legal sense, it is intentional behaviour which is found threatening or disturbing...
, to say nothing of discrimination in employment.
Because the vast majority of the homosexual population remains hidden from view, homosexuality becomes identified in the minds of many with prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, disease, and cross-dressing
Cross-dressing
Cross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser...
. That reinforces a vicious cycle, as prejudice keeps homosexuality underground, and the few surface manifestations of homosexuality reinforce prejudice. It also means that transvestites are subject to hatred, harassment, and police abuse. Police abuse stems not only from popular prejudice, but from the fact that prostitution is illegal. Mexican police, whose wages tend to be very low, are notorious for corruption, they extort out of citizens. The notion of transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
, understood in terms that go beyond the demeanor-based identities of transvestites (vestidas or travestis), is of recent arrival in Mexico.
In the gender-based classificatory system in Mexico, masculine women typically have been assumed to reject men, or to want to be like them. This notion is captured in derogatory labels such as machorra and marimacha. Other derogatory terms such as chancla or chanclera and tortillera denote perception that "real" sex cannot happen in the absence of a penis
Human penis
The human penis is an external sexual organ of male humans. It is a reproductive, intromittent organ that additionally serves as the urinal duct.-Parts:...
. Because machismo is by definition male-oriented, and is premised on male dominance in relations between the sexes, lesbian relationships are generally perceived as far less threatening to society. That is, to the extent that they are perceived at all, because to a great degree they remain invisible in a cultural context that gives little recognition to female sexuality in the first place.
That helps explain the view often expressed among Mexican men that lesbians are just women who have not experienced "real" sex with a "real" man. In that sense, lesbians suffer much the same treatment as other women in a society that so exalts the masculine over the feminine.
Violence against LGBT people
HomophobiaHomophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
is very widespread in Mexican society. Statisticians show that between 2002 and 2007 along, 1000 persons have been murdered in homophobic crimes, as the Chamber of Deputies revealed in May 2007, making Mexico the county with the second-highest rate of homophobic crimes in the world (after Brazil). In a journalistic study by Fernando del Collado, titled Homofobia, odio, crimen y justicia (Homophobia, hate, crime and justice), there were discussed 400 dead between 1995 and 2005, that is to say, some 3 murders a month, but the City Commission Against Homophobic Hate Crimes calculates that only one in four crimes is reported. From January to August 2009, 40 gay people were murdered in Michoacán
Michoacán
Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...
alone, nearly all of them in the Tierra Caliente
Tierra caliente
Tierra caliente is a pseudo-climatalogical term used in Latin America to refer to those places within that realm which have a distinctly tropical climate...
area. The great majority are against gay men; from 1995 to 2004, "only" 16 women had been murdered. The crimes are often ignored or investigated with little interest by the police forces, who give impunity to the criminal in 98% of cases. Other forms of less serious violence are classified into the following types, according to a 2007 study by the Metropolitan Autonomous University
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana
The Metropolitan Autonomous University is a public university located in Mexico City, Mexico...
(UAM) Xochimilco campus: verbal violence in 32% of cases, sexual harassment in 18%, harassment in 12%, following or pursuit in 12%, and threats in 11%. According to the UAM study, the most frequent types of discrimination "were not hiring for a job, 13 percent; threats of extortion and detention by police, 11 percent; and abuse of employees, 10 percent".
Roman Catholic Church
Reinforcing attitudes toward homosexuality in Mexican cultureCulture of Mexico
Mexico has changed rapidly during the 20th century. In many ways, contemporary life in its cities has become similar to that in neighboring United States and Europe. Most Mexican villagers follow the older way of life more than the city people do. More than 45% of the people of Mexico live in...
is the stance of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. Mexico City's Cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
Norberto Rivera denounces "euphemisms" that contribute to "moral disorientation". "The arguments expressed by those who sympathize with this current that favors sexual libertinism
Libertine
A libertine is one devoid of most moral restraints, which are seen as unnecessary or undesirable, especially one who ignores or even spurns accepted morals and forms of behavior sanctified by the larger society. Libertines, also known as rakes, placed value on physical pleasures, meaning those...
, often appear under humanist banners, although at root they manifest materialist ideologies that deny the transcendent nature of the human person, as well as the supernatural vocation of the individual." The complementary union of man and
woman, he says, is the only relationship capable of generating "true conjugal love." Anti-gay rhetoric
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
is still acceptable in parts of the country where the influence of the Catholic Church is strongest.
The new Catholic Catechism describes homosexual acts as a "grave depravity
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
" and
"intrinsically disordered." It states that lesbian and gay relationships are "contrary to natural law
Crime against nature
Crime against nature is a legal term used in published cases in the United States since 1814 and normally defined as a form of sexual behavior that is not considered natural and is seen as a punishable offense in dozens of countries and several U.S. states...
[...] they do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved." Recognizing that "the number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible", it specifies that "they must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity", avoiding "every sign of unjust discrimination." Yet it mandates that "homosexual persons are called to chastity
Chastity
Chastity refers to the sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the moral standards and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion....
."
Tolerance among indigenous peoples
Even though Mexico's majority mestizoMestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
, racially mixed and assimilated, culture, permeated by machismo, is hostile to male homosexuality, particularly in its more effeminate manifestations
Effeminacy
Effeminacy describes traits in a human male, that are more often associated with traditional feminine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or gender roles rather than masculine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or roles....
, some of its indigenous cultures
Indigenous peoples of Mexico
Mexico, in the second article of its Constitution, is defined as a "pluricultural" nation in recognition of the diverse ethnic groups that constitute it, and in which the indigenous peoples are the original foundation...
are a lot more tolerant. Isthmus Zapotecs and Yucatán Mayans are cases in point. Particularly, the Zapotecs developed the concept of a third gender
Third gender
The terms third gender and third sex describe individuals who are categorized as neither man nor woman, as well as the social category present in those societies who recognize three or more genders...
, which they referred to as muxe
Muxe
In Zapotec cultures of Oaxaca , a muxe is a physically male individual who dresses and behaves in a feminine manner; they may be seen as a third gender. Some marry women and have children while others choose men as sexual or romantic partners...
, as an intermediate between male and female.
Somewhat androgynous, they do both women's and men's work
Gender role
Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and over time...
, but unlike most males they develop especially close friendships with women. While their apparel can be somewhat flamboyant, they are more masculine than feminine in dress. A muxe status is recognized in childhood
Childhood
Childhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence. In developmental psychology, childhood is divided up into the developmental stages of toddlerhood , early childhood , middle childhood , and adolescence .- Age ranges of childhood :The term childhood is non-specific and can imply a...
, and as Zapotec parents consider the muxes to be the most brightest, most gifted children, they will keep them in school longer than other children. It is widely believed that they are artistically gifted, and do better work than women. Also, the muxe takes the passive role in sex with masculine males who will sometimes take a muxe as an spouse.
More recently, muxes have been able to use their relatively high levels of education to gain important footholds in the more prestigious white-collar jobs in government and business that constitute the social elite in their communities. They have also been getting elected to political office. Benefiting from the public perception that they are intelligent and gifted.
According to Chiñas, "Isthmus Zapotec culture allows both women and men more freedom to express affection in public for persons of the same sex than does Anglo North American culture." In the special case of fiesta
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
s, however, heterosexual men are expected to not engage in any bodily contact with either men or women while dancing. Women, on the other hand, are allowed to dance with each other, and muxes may dance with each other or with women. Though not necessarily approving such liaisons
Affair
Affair may refer to professional, personal, or public business matters or to a particular business or private activity of a temporary duration, as in family affair, a private affair, or a romantic affair.-Political affair:...
, Isthmus Zapotec society is tolerant of persons who publicly form same-sex couples, whether male or female. Both types of couples occur with comparable frequency. Zapotecs are also tolerant of bisexuality
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
and transvestism
Transvestism
Transvestism is the practice of cross-dressing, which is wearing clothing traditionally associated with the opposite sex. Transvestite refers to a person who cross-dresses; however, the word often has additional connotations. -History:Although the word transvestism was coined as late as the 1910s,...
. Chiñas affirms that she seldom witnessed any instances of ostracism based on sexual orientation or same-sex liaisons.
In his field work in the Yucatán Peninsula
Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel...
, Walter Williams found the Maya people to be very accepting of homosexual behavior between young men and teenagers. Historically, homosexual bonds were considered normal among young men, a pattern which continues to this day.
Carter Wilson, who observed the homosexual scene in the Yucatán over a far greater period of time, and has studied it into the 1990s, corroborates many of Walter Williams' findings. Wilson asked Reinaldo Burgos, a man in his fifties who works at a local bank, how the people of Mérida
Merida
Places of the world named Mérida or Merida include:*Mérida, Spain, capital city of the Spanish Community of Extremadura*Mérida, Yucatán, capital city of the Mexican state of Yucatán*Merida, Leyte, a municipality in Leyte province in the Philippines...
, the state's capital, felt about gays.
The Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Zapatista Army of National Liberation
The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is a revolutionary leftist group based in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico....
(EZLN), a mostly indigenous and armed revolutionary group, on 1 January 1994, the same day the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
(NAFTA) went into effect, began a rebellion against the Mexican government in the southern state of Chiapas
Chiapas
Chiapas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las...
, the country's poorest. They have included in several proclamations to the nation "the homosexuals" as an oppressed group along with indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples of Mexico
Mexico, in the second article of its Constitution, is defined as a "pluricultural" nation in recognition of the diverse ethnic groups that constitute it, and in which the indigenous peoples are the original foundation...
, women and peasants.
The pink peso
The LGBT market (called "pink market" or "mercado rosa") in Mexico is calculated at 51,300 million pesoPeso
The word peso was the name of a coin that originated in Spain and became of immense importance internationally...
s (some $4,663 million). The group of LGBT consumers, ignored until the present out of homophobia or fear of critics, is being discovered. In 2005 the Gay Expo in Mexico was created, which claimed to give to know the companies and services to the LGBT community, and the companies of the division have been united into the Union of Companies and Service Providers to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community (Unegay).
A study by the agency De la Riva on the behavior of the LGBT consumer shows that the habits of gay men and lesbians are distinct. While gay men prefer brand names and a riskier lifestyle, lesbians tend to be educated and don't tend to pay attention to brand names. Gays respond to advertisements that make knowing winks to the community, but reject advertisements with openly gay themes, because they fear being identified through the product. Gay men as much as lesbians have great emotional needs and need to be accepted, and prefer stable partners.
Pink tourism, especially from the U.S., has one of its favorite destinations in Mexico and specially Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta is a Mexican balneario resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas.The 2010 census reported Puerto Vallarta's population as 255,725 making it the sixth-largest city in the state of Jalisco...
, where it is even possible to see men taking a walk hand in hand in the Zona Romántica. Another favorite destination is Cancún
Cancún
Cancún is a city of international tourism development certified by the UNWTO . Located on the northeast coast of Quintana Roo in southern Mexico, more than 1,700 km from Mexico City, the Project began operations in 1974 as Integrally Planned Center, a pioneer of FONATUR Cancún is a city of...
, which has tried to attract the LGBT public with events like the Cancún Mayan Riviera Gay Fall Fiesta and the Cancún International Gay Festival. LGBT tourism focuses on not only sun and beaches and Mayan ruins, but is diversifying. For this public there exist two specialised travel agencies, Opta Tours (since 1991) and Babylon Tours.
Social life
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
.
Although overall public displays of homosexual affection or cross-dressing
Cross-dressing
Cross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser...
are still taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
in most parts of Mexico, LGBT social life tends to thrive in the country's largest cities and resorts
Metropolitan areas of Mexico
Metropolitan areas in Mexico have been traditionally defined as the group of municipalities that heavily interact with each other, usually around a core city...
. The visible center of the LGBT community is the Zona Rosa
Zona Rosa
Zona Rosa is a neighborhood in Mexico City which is known for its shopping, nightlife, gay community, and its recently established Korean community...
, in Mexico City, where over 50 gay bars and dance clubs exist. Surrounding the country's capital, there is a sizable amount in the State of Mexico. Some observers claim that gay life is more developed in Mexico's second largest city, Guadalajara. Other large cities include border city Tijuana, northern city Monterrey
Monterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
, centrist cities Puebla
Puebla, Puebla
The city and municipality of Puebla is the capital of the state of Puebla, and one of the five most important colonial cities in Mexico. Being a planned city, it is located to the east of Mexico City and west of Mexico's main port, Veracruz, on the main route between the two.The city was founded...
and León
León, Guanajuato
The city of León, formally León de los Aldama is the sixth most populous city in Mexico and the first in the state of Guanajuato. It is also the seat of the municipality of León...
, and major port city Veracruz
Veracruz, Veracruz
Veracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...
. The popularity of gay tourism especially in Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta is a Mexican balneario resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas.The 2010 census reported Puerto Vallarta's population as 255,725 making it the sixth-largest city in the state of Jalisco...
, Cancún
Cancún
Cancún is a city of international tourism development certified by the UNWTO . Located on the northeast coast of Quintana Roo in southern Mexico, more than 1,700 km from Mexico City, the Project began operations in 1974 as Integrally Planned Center, a pioneer of FONATUR Cancún is a city of...
and elsewhere has also brought more national attention to the presence of homosexuality in Mexico. Among some young, urban heterosexuals, it has become popular to attend gay dance clubs and to have openly gay friends.
In 1979, the country's first LGBT Pride Parade, also known as LGBT Pride March, was held and attended by over one thousand people in Mexico City. Ever since, it has been held every June without interruption under different slogans with the aims of bringing visibility to sexual minorities, fomenting consciousness about AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
and HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
, denouncing homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
and demanding the creation of public policies such as the recognition of same-sex civil unions
Same-sex union
Same-sex unions are legal or religious unions between two persons of the same sex.In legal contexts, their recognition varies based upon the region in which the union is formed. Some regions allow same-sex marriage, civil marriage between two persons of the same sex. Others recognize civil unions...
and same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
s and the legalization of LGBT adoption, among others. According to organizers, in its latest edition, the XXXI LGBT Pride Parade was attended by over 350,000 people, 100,000 more than its predecessor. In 2003, the first Lesbian Pride March occurred in the country's capital. In Guadalajara, well-attended LGBT Pride Parades
Guadalajara Gay Pride
The Guadalajara Gay Pride known in Spanish as Marcha de la diversidad translated as "Parade of the diversity" is an event that celebrates diversity in general and seeks equal rights for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people, is celebtared in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico in 2009 meets...
have been held also every June since 1996. LGBT Pride Parades have continuously occurred in Monterrey
Monterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
, Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
, Puebla
Puebla, Puebla
The city and municipality of Puebla is the capital of the state of Puebla, and one of the five most important colonial cities in Mexico. Being a planned city, it is located to the east of Mexico City and west of Mexico's main port, Veracruz, on the main route between the two.The city was founded...
, Veracruz
Veracruz, Veracruz
Veracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...
, Xalapa
Xalapa
Xalapa-Enríquez, commonly Xalapa or Jalapa, is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the year 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and the municipality of which it serves as municipal seat reported a population of...
, Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. It was established at the archeological site of Gualupita I by the Olmec, "the mother culture" of Mesoamerica, approximately 3200 years ago...
, Tuxtla Gutiérrez
Tuxtla Gutiérrez
Tuxtla Gutiérrez is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Chiapas. It is considered to be the state’s most modern city, with most of its public buildings dating from the 20th century. One exception to this is the San Marcos Cathedral which began as a Dominican parish church built in...
, Acapulco
Acapulco
Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
, Chilpancingo
Chilpancingo
Chilpancingo de los Bravo is the capital and second-largest city of the state of Guerrero, Mexico. It is located at . In the 2005 census the population of the city was 166,796. Its surrounding municipality, of which it is municipal seat, had a population of 214,219 persons...
, and Mérida
Mérida, Yucatán
Mérida is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Yucatán and the Yucatán Peninsula. It is located in the northwest part of the state, about from the Gulf of Mexico coast...
.
Mexican gay soccer team, known as El Tri Gay, is the first of its kind in the country. Team member, Eduardo Velázquez, was quoted saying:
In 2007, Mexico participated for the first time in the Gay World Cup, which was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. However, according to team members, they have been discriminated against by Mexican official soccer organizations such as the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) and the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sports
CONADE
CONADE is Mexico's National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport . It is the arm of the Mexican government charged with fostering and promoting physical education, recreation and sport in the country...
(CONADE), that have refused to support them because the Gay World Cup is not recognized by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA). The team also participated in the 2008 Gay World Cup held in London, UK and in the 2009 World Outgames
2009 World Outgames
The 2009 World Outgames, the 2nd World Outgames, was hosted by Copenhagen, Denmark from July 25 to August 2, 2009. It was one of the largest international sports and cultural event ever held on Danish soil, with 8,000 people from all corners of the world expected to participate. The World...
held in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark. The team fully participated in AIDS Healthcare Foundation
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
AIDS Healthcare Foundation , the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 152,000 individuals in 26 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia-Pacific Region and Eastern Europe...
(AHF) "LOVE Condoms Campaign", all getting publicly tested.
One of the gay centers of culture and amusement in Mexico is the Zona Rosa
Zona Rosa
Zona Rosa is a neighborhood in Mexico City which is known for its shopping, nightlife, gay community, and its recently established Korean community...
, a series of streets in Colonia Juárez
Colonia Juárez (Mexico City)
Colonia Juarez is one of the better–known neighborhoods or colonias in the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City. Its boundaries are: the corner of Paseo de la Reforma and Eje Bucareli to the north, Avenida Chapultepec to the south, Eje 1 Poniente to the east and Circuito Interior José Vasconcelos to...
in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. Since mid-2007, the government of the Federal District and Cuauhtémoc, D.F.
Cuauhtémoc, D.F.
Cuauhtémoc, named after the former Aztec leader, is one of the 16 boroughs of the Federal district of Mexico City. It consists of the oldest parts of the city, extending over what was the entire city in the 1920s. This area is the historic and culture center of the city, although it is not the...
-- in whose territory the Zona Rosa is found—have placed operatives in some seedy nightclubs of the Zona Rosa, with the purpose of freeing this tourist zone of problems such as illegal drug trade
Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
and prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, as well as reducing the incidence of crimes such as theft
Theft
In common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...
. Other targets of the program are those sites of cohabitation that lack safety measures for the users—mainly emergency exits. LGBT groups have denounced the action as a form of homophobia.
Tourism
GuadalajaraGuadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
and Acapulco
Acapulco
Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
were common vacation destinations for gay men and lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
s from Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
and, especially, the United States and Canada in the 1980s and 1990s. However, since that time, Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta is a Mexican balneario resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas.The 2010 census reported Puerto Vallarta's population as 255,725 making it the sixth-largest city in the state of Jalisco...
has developed into Mexico's premier resort town as a sort of satellite gay space for its big sister Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
, much as Fire Island
Fire Island, New York
Fire Island is one of the outer barrier islands adjacent to the south shore of Long Island, New York. It is approximately long and varies between broad. Fire Island is part of Suffolk County. It comprises a number of hamlets, census-designated places , and villages, all of which lie within the...
is to New York City and Palm Springs
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
is to Los Angeles. It is now considered the most welcoming and gay-friendly destination in the country, dubbed the "San Francisco of Mexico." It boasts a gay scene, centered in the Zona Romántica, of hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s and resort
Resort
A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company....
s as well as many bars
Gay bar
A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender clientele; the term gay is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT and queer communities...
, nightclubs and a gay beach on the main shore. Puerto Vallarta has been cited as the number one gay beach destination in Latin America.
Cultural life
In Mexican cultureCulture of Mexico
Mexico has changed rapidly during the 20th century. In many ways, contemporary life in its cities has become similar to that in neighboring United States and Europe. Most Mexican villagers follow the older way of life more than the city people do. More than 45% of the people of Mexico live in...
, it is now relatively common to include gay characters on Mexican sitcoms and soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
s (telenovela
Telenovela
A telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão , and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel"...
s), and to discuss homosexuality in talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
s. But representations of male homosexuals vary widely. Often include stereotypical versions of male effeminacy
Effeminacy
Effeminacy describes traits in a human male, that are more often associated with traditional feminine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or gender roles rather than masculine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or roles....
meant to provide comic relief
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
as well as representations meant to increase social awareness and to generate greater acceptance of homosexuality. However, efforts to represent lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
s remain almost non-existent, which might be related to the more general invisibility of lesbian lifestyles in Mexico. The prominence of such openly gay luminaries as singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel
Juan Gabriel
Alberto Aguilera Valadez , better known by his stage name Juan Gabriel , is a Mexican singer and songwriter who is one of the most famous living representatives of the Mexican ranchera, ballad, mariachi, and pop music....
, artist Juan Soriano
Juan Soriano
Juan Soriano was a Mexican painter and sculptor.Soriano, son of Rafael Rodríguez Soriano and Amalia Montoya Navarro, was born in Guadalajara and displayed his first painting at age 14...
and essayist Carlos Monsivais
Carlos Monsiváis
Carlos Monsiváis Aceves was a Mexican writer, critic, political activist, and journalist. of French decent He also wrote political opinion columns in leading newspapers and was considered to be an opinion leader within the country's progressive sectors. His generation of writers includes Elena...
, until recently gay life was safely closeted and officially unmentionable in the mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
. A Lesbian-Gay Cultural Week has been held annually since 1982 in Mexico City, and with the support of a cultural museum belonging to the prestigious National Autonomous University of Mexico
National Autonomous University of Mexico
The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México is a university in Mexico. UNAM was founded on 22 September 1910 by Justo Sierra as a liberal alternative to the Roman Catholic-sponsored Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (National Autonomous...
(UNAM) since 1987.
Cinema
Exaggeratedly effeminate menEffeminacy
Effeminacy describes traits in a human male, that are more often associated with traditional feminine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or gender roles rather than masculine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or roles....
representations date as far back as 1938 in the Mexican film "La Casa del Ogro" (The Ogre's House) and continued to appear solely for comedic relief
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
. An example is the film Fin de la fiesta (1972), in which Doña Beatriz, the mother (played by Sara García
Sara García
Sara García was a Mexican actress who made her biggest mark during the "Golden Age of Mexican cinema". During the 1940s and 1950s, she often played the part of a no-nonsense but lovable grandmother in numerous Mexican films...
), kills her gay son with sticks.
The first sympathetic portrayal of a gay character awaited "El Lugar Sin Límites
El lugar sin límites (film)
El lugar sin límites is a 1978 film directed by Arturo Ripstein, produced in Mexico and based on the 1966 novel of the same name written by Chilean José Donoso.-Cast:*Roberto Cobo ... La Manuela...
" (The Place Without Limits), a 1978 drama directed by Arturo Ripstein
Arturo Ripstein
Arturo Ripstein y Rosen is a Mexican film director.-Life and career:Ripstein got his break into movies working as an uncredited assistant director for Luis Buñuel. In 1965, he directed his first feature, Tiempo de Morir...
and based on the novel by Chilean José Donoso
José Donoso
José Donoso Yáñez was a Chilean writer. He lived most of his life in Chile, although he spent many years in self-imposed exile in Mexico, the United States and mainly Spain. Although he had left his country in the sixties for personal reasons, after 1973 he claimed his exile was also a form of...
. Played by Roberto Cobo, the character of La Manuela emerges as a tragic figure who is at once desired and victimized by the typically macho
Machismo
Machismo, or machoism, is a word of Spanish and Portuguese origin that describes prominently exhibited or excessive masculinity. As an attitude, machismo ranges from a personal sense of virility to a more extreme male chauvinism...
characters in a Mexican village. A few years later, "Doña Herlinda y Su Hijo" (Doña Herlinda and Her Son, 1984) featured the first same-sex couple in Mexican cinema, who struggled with family pressures to survive.
Films like Danzón
Danzón
Danzón is the official dance of Cuba. It is also an active musical form in Mexico and is still beloved in Puerto Rico where Verdeluz, a modern danzón by Puerto Rican composer Antonio Cabán Vale is considered the unofficial national anthem...
(1991), by María Novaro; Miroslava (1993), by Alejandro Pelayo; El callejón de los milagros
El callejón de los milagros
El callejón de los milagros is an award-winning 1994 Mexican film adapted from the novel by Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, written by Vicente Leñero and directed by Jorge Fons...
(1995), by Jorge Fons
Jorge Fons
Jorge Fons Pérez is a Mexican film director.He belongs to the first generation of film directors of the UNAM. His short film, Caridad , is still considered one of the best films in Mexican cinema...
; or Y tu mamá también
Y tu mamá también
Y tu mamá también is a 2001 Mexican comedy-drama film directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and co-written by Cuarón and his brother Carlos. The film is a coming-of-age story about two teenage boys taking a road trip with a woman in her late twenties; it stars Mexican actors Diego Luna and Gael García...
, by Alfonso Cuarón
Alfonso Cuarón
Alfonso Cuarón Orozco is a Mexican film director, screenwriter and film producer, best known for his films Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Y tu mamá también, and A Little Princess.- Early life :...
incorporate homoerotic subject matter as a secondary matter in their plots or in a hidden way.
By the 1990s and early 2000s, "El Callejón de los Milagros
El callejón de los milagros
El callejón de los milagros is an award-winning 1994 Mexican film adapted from the novel by Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, written by Vicente Leñero and directed by Jorge Fons...
" (The Alley of Miracles, 1994) and "Y Tu Mamá También
Y tu mamá también
Y tu mamá también is a 2001 Mexican comedy-drama film directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and co-written by Cuarón and his brother Carlos. The film is a coming-of-age story about two teenage boys taking a road trip with a woman in her late twenties; it stars Mexican actors Diego Luna and Gael García...
" (And Your Mother Too, 2001) dealt with gay issues and were internationally successful. 2004 film Temporada de Patos (Duck Season) featured a teenager boy who discovers his homosexuality. Jaime Humberto Hermosillo
Jaime Humberto Hermosillo
Jaime Humberto Hermosillo is a Mexican film director, often compared to Spain's Pedro Almodóvar.Born in Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes, in center Mexico, Hermosillo's films often explore the hypocrisy of middle-class Mexican values....
, an openly gay film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, is known for his contributions to Mexican cinema. Hermosillo directed critically acclaimed films Mil Nubes de Paz Cercan el Cielo
A Thousand Clouds of Peace
A Thousand Clouds of Peace is a 2003 romantic drama film written and directed by Julián Hernández. Its original Spanish title is Mil nubes de paz cercan el cielo, amor, jamás acabarás de ser amor and alternative titles for it are A Thousand Clouds of Peace Fence the Sky, Love; Your Being Love Will...
(A Thousand Clouds of Peace, 2003) and El Cielo Dividido
Broken Sky (film)
Broken Sky is a 2006 Mexican drama film involving a love triangle between three young gay men. The film was directed and written by Julián Hernández.-Cast:*Miguel Ángel Hoppe - Gerardo...
(Broken Sky, 2006) allow viewers to observe relationship
Intimate relationship
An intimate relationship is a particularly close interpersonal relationship that involves physical or emotional intimacy. Physical intimacy is characterized by romantic or passionate love and attachment, or sexual activity. The term is also sometimes used euphemistically for a sexual...
s through the lens of gay desire. None of the film's characters approached the homosexual stereotypes that appeared in Mexican film for decades. In 2006, the same director shot another film with gay characters, Broken Sky, which chronicles the tensions in a young couple because of infidelity. In early 2006, Mexico's first-ever International Gay Film Festival took place in Mexico City and was attended by more than 5,000 movie-goers. According to its director, Alberto Legorreta, the event was born of a desire "to create spaces for dialogue, contemplation, and artistic criticism of gay subject matter in Mexico."
Television
Two private channels compete in providing national coverage, TelevisaTelevisa
Televisa is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate, the largest mass media company in Latin America and in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a major international entertainment business, with much of its programming airing in the United States on Univision, with which it has an exclusive contract...
and TV Azteca
TV Azteca
Azteca, is the second largest Mexican television entertainment. It was established in 1983 as the state-owned Instituto Mexicano de la Televisión , a holding of the national TV networks channel 13 and 7 and was privatized under its current name in 1993 and now is part of Grupo Salinas...
. Matters of sexuality are presented occasionally, mainly on talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
s and journalistic programs
News program
A news program, news programme, news show, or newscast is a regularly scheduled radio or television program that reports current events. News is typically reported in a series of individual stories that are presented by one or more anchors...
. Mexican networks have a strong self-censoring attitude
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
, and therefore homosexuality is usually not dealt with unless the program deals with HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
/AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. Notwithstanding, in recent years it is now relatively common to include gay characters on Mexican sitcoms and soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
s. A lesbian character was the first to be included in a popular 1990s soap opera, Nada Personal
Nada personal (TV series)
Nada personal is a Mexican telenovela, which was broadcast in 1996. It was the first produced by Argos Comunicación for TV Azteca and began on May 20 of that year...
(Nothing Personal). In this TV Azteca-produced program, the positive image of homosexuality goes along with a major criticism of the Mexican political system
Politics of Mexico
The politics of Mexico take place in a framework of a federal presidential representative democratic republic whose government is based on a congressional system, whereby the president of Mexico is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system...
. In 1999, another TV Azteca production, La Vida en el Espejo, showed José María Yazpik playing a gay character, which was recognized by many critics as the first gay character portrayed with dignity in a Mexican soap opera. The same network produced similar gay characters played by actress Margarita Gralia in Mirada de Mujer (1997), actor Juan Pablo Medina in Cuando Seas Mía (2001) and actor Juan Manuel Bernal in La Heredera (2004). In mid-2009, Televisa-produced soap opera Sortilegio
Sortilegio
Sortilegio is a Mexican telenovela produced by Carla Estrada for Televisa and It stars Jacqueline Bracamontes, William Levy. It is a remake of Tú o nadie. Univision aired Sortilegio from October 6, 2009 to February 17, 2010 at 9pm/8pm central...
softly dealt with bisexuality
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
. A couple months later, Los Exitosos Pérez, an adaptation of Argentine comedy-drama
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
soap opera Los Exitosos Pells
Los exitosos Pells
Los exitosos Pells was a 2008-2009 Argentine telenovela, produced by Underground Producciones and Endemol, and aired by Telefe. It started being aired on November 5, 2008, replacing Vidas Robadas at 10:30PM...
, was launched in Mexico. The TV show revolves around whether homosexuals should come out of the closet
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
or not. Actor and protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
Jaime Camil
Jaime Camil
Jaime Federico Said Camil de Saldaña da Gama is a Mexican actor, singer and host.-Biography:Born in Mexico City, Mexico, Camil is the son of Jaime Camil Garza, a very successful Mexican businessman, and Cecilia Saldaña Da Gama, a Brazilian singer...
criticized Mexican television for censoring
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
his kissing scenes with male co-star José Ron
José Ron
Édgar José Ron Vázquez is a Mexican actor known for his performances in telenovelas.-Biography :...
.
Cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
shows tend to be more open when dealing with LGBT issues. Aside from American TV shows such as sitcom Will & Grace
Will & Grace
Will & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters...
, drama series The L Word
The L Word
The L Word is an American co-production television drama series originally shown on Showtime portraying the lives of a group of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their friends, family and lovers in the trendy Greater Los Angeles, California city of West Hollywood...
, drama series Six Feet Under, reality
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, several MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
productions, among others. Televisa-affiliated music videos network Telehit
TeleHit
TeleHit is a Mexican cable/satellite television network. Its main programing is music and music videos. It is a network of Televisa and is also available in various countries in Latin America, United States and Spain. Is part of Televisa Networks, an affiliate of Televisa.Telehit became the second...
has continuously produced TV shows targeting the LGBT community since the early 2000s. Desde Gayola
Desde Gayola
Desde Gayola is a Mexican sketch comedy television series broadcast on the music videos network Telehit from 2001 to 2006. The show started out as a one-sketch for the channel, and turned into the most successful show on the network...
, broadcast from 2001 to 2006, was a Mexican sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
TV series which criticized the reality on the Mexican society
Demographics of Mexico
With a population 112,336,538 in 2010, Mexico is the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world, the second-most populous country in Latin America after Portuguese-speaking Brazil, and the second in North America, after the United States. Throughout most of the twentieth century Mexico's...
, dealing with diverse topics such as politics
Politics of Mexico
The politics of Mexico take place in a framework of a federal presidential representative democratic republic whose government is based on a congressional system, whereby the president of Mexico is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system...
, religion, sexuality, show business, among others. Produced by Horacio Villalobos
Horacio Villalobos
Horacio Villalobos is a Mexican TV host, actor and model.-TV shows:His television career began with the news channel ECO and other Televisa shows like Gaceta Cultural, 6205 el Planeta, Entre Butacas, Trapitos al Sol and Operación Triunfo.His first project in Televisa's music channel Telehit was...
, Desde Gayola featured many LGBT characters including Manigüis, a stereotypical gay male
LGBT stereotypes
Stereotypes about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are conventional, formulaic generalizations, opinions, or images about persons based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Stereotypes and homophobia are a learned outlook, i.e...
living in the city; Supermana, a transgender superheroine, played by transgender actress Daniel Vives, that deals with women's problems; La Tesorito, played by transgender actress Alejandra Bogue, a parody of TV-host and actress Laura León
Laura León
Rebeca Valderrama , better known by her stage name Laura León, is a Mexican actress and singer. She is often referred to as "La Tesorito" since that is a term of endearment she uses for people. León resided for many years in Mexico City where she starred in several telenovelas for Televisa...
; and Marta Según, played by actor Javier Yepez, a spoof of former First Lady of Mexico
First Lady of Mexico
First Lady of Mexico is the unofficial title of the wife of the President of Mexico.The post is highly ceremonial and in fact once caused severe controversy when it was thought that the First Lady took too much involvement in their husband's post....
Marta Sahagún
Marta Sahagún
Marta Sahagún de Fox became the First Lady of Mexico on July 2, 2001, when she married President Vicente Fox Quesada....
. Another prominent Telehit-produced TV show is Guau!
Guau!
Guau! is a talkshow for the Mexican gay community transmitted by Telehit, hosted by Alex Kaffie and Alejandra Bogue....
, currently hosted by Alex Kaffie, Lorena Fernández and Sergio Téllez. Launched in late 2005, "Guau!" is often considered the only fully gay, Mexican TV show.
Literature
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and writer, wrote the book "Amora" (1989), which is credited with being the first lesbian novel published in Mexico -that is, the first novel which openly discusses lesbianism and places it in the foreground.
Despite societal prejudices, some LGBT people were able to live fairly open lives and still become successful, especially in the fields of literature and arts
Mexican art
Mexican art consists of the various visual and plastic arts which developed over the geographical area now known as Mexico. The development of these arts roughly follow the history of Mexico, divided into the Mesoamerican era, the colonial period, with the period after the gaining of Independence...
. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648–1695), considered the greatest lyric poet of the colonial period (1521–1821), was a Mexican nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
presumed by many to be a lesbian because of the passionate love poems she addressed to her benefactress -Leonor Carreto, wife of Viceroy Antonio Sebastián de Toledo- and her scathing critique of male abuse of power
Abuse of Power
Abuse of Power is a novel written by radio talk show host Michael Savage.- Plot :Jack Hatfield is a hardened former war correspondent who rose to national prominence for his insightful, provocative commentary...
against women. Salvador Novo
Salvador Novo
Salvador Novo López was a Mexican writer, poet, playwright, translator, television presenter, entrepreneur, and the official chronicler of Mexico City, his birthplace and home. As a noted intellectual, he influenced popular perceptions of politics, media, the arts, and Mexican society in general...
(1904–1974) was a poet and member of the avant-garde group Los Contemporáneos
Los Contemporáneos
Los Contemporáneos can refer to a Mexican modernist group, active in the late twenties and early thirties, as well as to the literary magazine which served as the group's mouthpiece and artistic vehicle from 1928 to 1931...
, who wrote "Nuevo Amor" (New Love, 1933), considered as one of the best collections of poetry ever written in Spanish. His close friend Xavier Villaurrutia
Xavier Villaurrutia
Xavier Villaurrutia y González was a Mexican poet and playwright, whose most famous works are the short theatrical dramas, called Autos profanos, compiled in the work Poesía y teatro completos published in 1953....
(1903–1950), another prominent member of Los Contemporáneos, was a poet and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, considered as one of Mexico's finest modern writers and major film and art critics. His "Nocturno de los Ángeles" (Nocturne of the Angels, 1936) is one of the monuments of gay writing in Latin America. Luis Zapata (b. 1951) has become Mexico's most celebrated gay writer over the past decades, whose first two works helped usher in the 1980s boom of gay literature in Mexico. His literary trajectory is one of increasing personalization and self-exposure, of his own coming out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
.
Anthologist and journalist Carlos Monsiváis
Carlos Monsiváis
Carlos Monsiváis Aceves was a Mexican writer, critic, political activist, and journalist. of French decent He also wrote political opinion columns in leading newspapers and was considered to be an opinion leader within the country's progressive sectors. His generation of writers includes Elena...
(b. 1938), one of the most highly respected authors in Latin America, is best known as a writer of chronicles and an essayist, mixing both genres in order to describe and explain the complexity of contemporary Mexican society, especially that of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area. Within these parameters, Monsiváis acknowledges his gay identity, although it is not the center of his chronicles. In some of his works Monsiváis criticizes a patriarchal and homophobic society that tends to ignore, to view with prejudice and to harass the Mexican gay community and its manifestations. Like Monsiváis, José Joaquín Blanco (b. 1951) is primarily known as a journalist and essayist who comments broadly and incisively on the contemporary Mexican scene, particularly that of Mexico City. He includes the gay community in his writings, as in his essay "Ojos Que Da Pánico Soñar" (Eyes that Could Terrify Dreams, 1979), one of the earliest Mexican texts on homosexual identity, and "Las Púberes Canéforas" (The Pubescent Canephoros, 1983), one of five novels Blanco has published to date.
The most successful Mexican LGBT author is Luis Zapata Quiroz. He has been criticized for perpetuating the stereotypes of the U.S. pattern of the tragic gay man, even though he never portrays homosexuality as a bad thing. Carlos Monsiváis
Carlos Monsiváis
Carlos Monsiváis Aceves was a Mexican writer, critic, political activist, and journalist. of French decent He also wrote political opinion columns in leading newspapers and was considered to be an opinion leader within the country's progressive sectors. His generation of writers includes Elena...
also has considered in his critique the profound homoeroticism
Homoeroticism
Homoeroticism refers to the erotic attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female , most especially as it is depicted or manifested in the visual arts and literature. It can also be found in performative forms; from theatre to the theatricality of uniformed movements...
of the poets belonging to the group Los Contemporáneos
Los Contemporáneos
Los Contemporáneos can refer to a Mexican modernist group, active in the late twenties and early thirties, as well as to the literary magazine which served as the group's mouthpiece and artistic vehicle from 1928 to 1931...
between the late 1920s and mid 1940s. Several of his poets, such as Xavier Villaurrutia
Xavier Villaurrutia
Xavier Villaurrutia y González was a Mexican poet and playwright, whose most famous works are the short theatrical dramas, called Autos profanos, compiled in the work Poesía y teatro completos published in 1953....
, Carlos Pellicer
Carlos Pellicer
Carlos Pellicer Cámara , born in Villahermosa, Tabasco, was part of the first wave of modernist Mexican poets and was heavily active in the promotion of Mexican art and literature...
, and Salvador Novo
Salvador Novo
Salvador Novo López was a Mexican writer, poet, playwright, translator, television presenter, entrepreneur, and the official chronicler of Mexico City, his birthplace and home. As a noted intellectual, he influenced popular perceptions of politics, media, the arts, and Mexican society in general...
, were gay and "let themselves be touched, discreetly, by a theme very dear to the age: the sailors, in the aura of the night port, with their liberty and their beauty". The Chicano
Chicano
The terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...
LGBT community has also created a thriving culture. Thus, Gloria E. Anzaldúa
Gloria E. Anzaldúa
Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa was considered a leading scholar of Chicano cultural theory and Queer theory. She loosely based her most well-known book Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza on her life growing up on the Mexican-Texas border and incorporated her lifelong feelings of social and...
and Cherríe Moraga
Cherríe Moraga
Cherríe L. Moraga is a Chicana writer, feminist activist, poet, essayist, and playwright.-Biography:Moraga was born in Whittier, California. She earned her Bachelor's degree from Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles, California and her Master's from San Francisco State University in 1980...
are two important authors within the North American LGBT community, and Francisco X. Alarcón
Francisco X. Alarcón
Francisco Xavier Alarcón is an American poet and educator.-Life:He moved to Guadalajara, Mexico, when he was 6...
, professor at the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, has published nine books of poetry.
Art
Agustín Lazo Adalid
Agustín Lazo Adalid was a Mexican artist, scenic painter, costume designer and dramaturg. He is considered as pioneer of surrealism in Mexican art by many art researchers.- Biography :...
(1886–1971), pioneer of surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
in Mexican art
Mexican art
Mexican art consists of the various visual and plastic arts which developed over the geographical area now known as Mexico. The development of these arts roughly follow the history of Mexico, divided into the Mesoamerican era, the colonial period, with the period after the gaining of Independence...
, member of Los Contemporáneos and also lover of Villaurrutia, abstained from painting male nudity, even though he was known to be homosexual. Only three paintings by Alfonso Michel (1897–1957), another member of Los Contemporáneos, show male nudity in ways that are subtly erotic
Eroticism
Eroticism is generally understood to refer to a state of sexual arousal or anticipation of such – an insistent sexual impulse, desire, or pattern of thoughts, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality and romantic love...
. Michel was homosexual and his wealthy family supported his perpetual wanderings around the world in order to avoid an scandal in the conservative state of Colima
Colima
Colima is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima....
, where he grew up. Manuel Rodríguez Lozano
Manuel Rodríguez Lozano
Manuel Rodríguez Lozano was a Mexican painter.- Biography :Rodríguez Lozano was born to Manuel Rodríguez and his wife Sara Lozano. He began a military education at the Heroico Colegio Militar, and started a diplomatic service career...
(1896–1971), another member of Los Contemporáneos, never hid his homosexuality and expressed it with great candour in drawings and paintings. His studio attracted younger painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s, including Abraham Ángel
Abraham Ángel
Abraham Ángel Card Valdés was a Mexican artist known under his first name Abraham Ángel because his Scottish father forbade him to use the surname after he left the family when Abraham Ángel was a child.- Life :...
(1905–1924), Julio Castellanos
Julio Castellanos
Julio Castellanos was a Mexican painter and engraver.- Biography :Castellanos matriculated the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1918, where he studied under Saturnino Herrán and Leandro Izaguirre, together with Agustín Lazo, Rufino Tamayo and Leopoldo Méndez...
(1905–1947) and Ángel Torres Jaramillo (1912–1937), with whom Lozano maintained relationships. Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo de Rivera was a Mexican painter, born in Coyoacán, and perhaps best known for her self-portraits....
(1901–1954), one of the most important artist in modern Mexican art
Mexican art
Mexican art consists of the various visual and plastic arts which developed over the geographical area now known as Mexico. The development of these arts roughly follow the history of Mexico, divided into the Mesoamerican era, the colonial period, with the period after the gaining of Independence...
, was openly bisexual and wife of world-famous painter Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
. Her importance for the LGBT community is not so much due to her bisexuality as to having been converted into a gay icon
Gay icon
A gay icon is a public figure who is embraced by many within :lesbian, :gay, :bisexual and :transgender communities...
, by her fighter and non-conformist nature. Her work is seen by artists and critics alike as a crucial contribution to the deconstruction of the art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
world's male prerogatives and to the recognition of gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
and sexual diversity as legitimate objects of visual representation. Rodolfo Morales
Rodolfo Morales
Rodolfo Morales was a Mexican painter, who incorporated elements of magic realism into his work.Morales is best known for his brightly coloured surrealistic dream-like canvases and collages often featuring Mexican women in village settings...
(1925–2001) was a famous surrealist painter. Up until his death, Morales was regarded as one of Mexico's greatest living artists. Other LGBT painters and visual artists are Roberto Montenegro
Roberto Montenegro
Roberto Montenegro Nervo was a Mexican painter, illustrator, and stage designer....
, Nahum B. Zenil
Nahum B. Zenil
Nahum B. Zenil is a Mexican artist who often uses himself as the principal model for a cultural critical interpretation of Mexico, especially concerning homosexuality and mestization. Zenil was born in 1947 in the state of Veracruz. In 1959 he enrolled at the Escuela Nacional de Maestros in...
, Julio Galán
Julio Galán
Julio Galán was a Mexican artist and architect.- Biography :Galán was one of Latin America's renowned neo-expressionist painters of the end of the last century and the beginning of this one.. His paintings and collages are full of elements that usually represent his life.Galán started his career...
, Roberto Márquez
Roberto Márquez
Roberto Marquez is a painter originally from Mexico. He later moved to Arizona, and then to New York. His paintings incorporate dreamlike images from literature, Mexican history, and the painter himself.-References:...
, and Carla Rippey.
Mass media and other publications
Singer, songwriter and arranger Juan GabrielJuan Gabriel
Alberto Aguilera Valadez , better known by his stage name Juan Gabriel , is a Mexican singer and songwriter who is one of the most famous living representatives of the Mexican ranchera, ballad, mariachi, and pop music....
(b. 1950) is one of the most popular and respected personalities in contemporary Mexican music
Music of Mexico
The music of Mexico is very diverse and features a wide range of different musical styles. It has been influenced by a variety of cultures, most notably indigenous Mexican and European, since the Late Middle Ages...
. However, for years he was excluded from radio and television on account of being gay. Mexican singer Chavela Vargas
Chavela Vargas
Isabel Vargas Lizano is a Costa Rican-born Mexican singer. She is especially known for her rendition of Mexican rancheras genre - a folkloric musical genre widely popular in Mexico - but she is also recognized for her contribution to other popular Latin American song genres...
(b. 1919), has one of the most recognizable voices in popular Mexican music. Vargas was faulted for her "obscene behavior", which included flirting with women in the audience and making spectacular entrances on motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
. In her autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, Vargas relates that she never intended to make a cause out of lesbianism, but she never chose to hide it either. Cross-dressing actor Francis García
Francis García
Francis was a Mexican trans woman who was a famous actor and designer.-Career:Born in Campeche, Campeche as Francisco Garcia Escalante, Francis gained attention first as a vedette, participating at various clubs and theaters, with a transvestites' ballet...
(1958–2007) made a successful living portraying female in plays and on television shows. Openly bisexual actor Gabriel Romero
Gabriel Romero
Gabriel Romero is an actor best known for his ground-breaking role as Fernandito, the first openly gay character on Spanish-language television, on the Telemundo sitcom Los Beltrán and for his role as Marco on the here! original series Dante's Cove. Romero himself is bisexual.Romero starred in Los...
played one of the first openly gay characters portrayed with dignity on Spanish-language television, on 1999 GLAAD Media Award-nominated Telemundo
Telemundo
Telemundo is an American television network that broadcasts in Spanish. The network is the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world, and the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, behind Univision....
sitcom "Los Beltrán
Los Beltrán
Los Beltrán was a ground-breaking Spanish-language situation comedy series, which aired on the U.S.-based network Telemundo from 1999 to 2001. Although canceled after two seasons, Los Beltrán received a number of media awards...
." Actor, pop star, and former RBD
RBD
RBD was a two-time Latin-Grammy nominated Mexican pop group that gained popularity from Televisa's teen drama series Rebelde. RBD sold over 17 million digital downloads and over 20 million albums worldwide in four years since their formation, according to EMI...
member Christian Chávez
Christian Chávez
For the Argentine footballer, see Cristian Manuel Chávez.Christian Chávez is a singer and actor best known for his role as Giovanni Méndez López in the telenovela Rebelde and its spin off teen band RBD...
(b. 1983) came out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
in March 2007 after a web site posted pictures of the him kissing another man at a 2005 Canadian civil ceremony
Same-sex marriage in Canada
On July 20, 2005, Canada became the fourth country in the world and the first country in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide with the enactment of the Civil Marriage Act which provided a gender-neutral marriage definition...
. The eventual scandal received massive press coverage. Chávez told BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
that he did not "want to keep on lying", and addressed his fans asking them not to judge him for being himself. Chávez is one of the few famous Mexican people who are openly gay.
Famous singer-songwriter Gloria Trevi
Gloria Trevi
Gloria Trevi is a Mexican pop-rock singer-songwriter. She was described as the "Supreme Diva of the Mexican Pop" by the music channel VH1 and sold over 20 million records.-Biography:...
, known as "Mexico's Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
", has long supported LGBT people and is considered as a gay icon
Gay icon
A gay icon is a public figure who is embraced by many within :lesbian, :gay, :bisexual and :transgender communities...
. Trevi was quoted as saying she identified with her gay and lesbian fans because "I know what it feels like to be judged, discriminated and rejected." Her 2006 single and gay anthem
Gay anthem
A gay anthem is a song that has become widely popular among, or has become identified with, the LGBT community; usually with gay men. The lyrics of gay anthems are often marked with hope against the odds, pride, unity, or defiance...
"Todos Me Miran" (Everybody Is Staring at Me) deals with coming out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
and cross-dressing
Cross-dressing
Cross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser...
, Trevi said that she was inspired to write the song after listening to a young friend describe the feelings of hurt and alienation when his conservative family discovered he was gay. Another gay icon is pop singer Paulina Rubio
Paulina Rubio
Paulina Susana Rubio Rue is a Mexican singer and actress. Rubio achieved international stardom with her fifth studio album, Paulina...
, who has supported same-sex marriage. In late 2008, Rubio criticized actor Eduardo Verastegui
Eduardo Verástegui
Eduardo Verástegui is a Mexican model, singer, and actor.- Biography :Verástegui was born in Mante, Tamaulipas, México and was raised as a devout Roman Catholic. He moved to Mexico City to pursue modeling, landing work with Calvin Klein among others...
for encouraging people to vote "yes" on Proposition 8
California Proposition 8 (2008)
Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
in order to ban same-sex marriage in California
Same-sex marriage in California
The status of same-sex marriage in California is unique among the 50 U.S. states, in that the state formerly granted marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but has discontinued doing so...
, U.S.
OHM is currently the only Mexican high-profile gay magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
distributed nationwide. Several well-known celebrities
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
have been featured on the cover of the magazine including actors Gael García and Luis Roberto Guzmán
Luis Roberto Guzmán
Luis Roberto Guzmán is a Puerto Rican actor known for his performances in Mexican telenovelas like Alborada, and for his title role in Mexican series El Pantera...
, pop singers Belinda
Belinda
The name Belinda is a common female first name of unknown etymology. It may have been coined from Italian bella "beautiful". Some scholars have speculated that Belinda derives from the Germanic given name Betlindis, or possibly a contracted form of Old High German Betlinde, meaning "bright serpent"...
, Ari Borovoy and Christian Chávez, and singer-songwriters Miguel Bosé
Miguel Bosé
Miguel Dominguín Bosé is a Latin Grammy-winning Spanish/Italian musician and actor.-Early life:Bosé was born in San Fernando Hospital in Panama City, Panama, the son of the famous Italian actress Lucia Bosé and the legendary bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín. He is also a cousin of Carmen...
and Gloria Trevi, among others. Mexico's only lesbian magazine, Les Voz, is sold publicly in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
. Elsewhere in Mexico it is only available by subscription, due to the lack of lesbian-friendly outlets outside these centers.
See also
- LGBT rights in Mexico
- Same-sex marriage in Mexico CitySame-sex marriage in Mexico CitySame-sex marriage is legal in Mexico City —the Federal District of Mexico— having been approved by its Legislative Assembly on 21 December 2009, and signed into law by Head of Government Marcelo Ebrard on 29 December 2009...
- Recognition of same-sex unions in MexicoRecognition of same-sex unions in MexicoIn Mexico, only civil marriages are recognized by the law and all its proceedings fall under local state legislation. Same-sex marriages are legally performed in Mexico City and same-sex civil unions are legally performed in Mexico City and the northern state of Coahuila , whose legal residents...
- Guadalajara Gay PrideGuadalajara Gay PrideThe Guadalajara Gay Pride known in Spanish as Marcha de la diversidad translated as "Parade of the diversity" is an event that celebrates diversity in general and seeks equal rights for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people, is celebtared in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico in 2009 meets...
- Lesbian Groups in MexicoLesbian Groups in MexicoA list of recorded Lesbian groups in Mexico, past and present.*Archivo Histórico Lésbico*El Closet de Sor Juana 1992 Mexico City,**Coyolxuahqui lesbianas en la plastica 1997*Colectiva Gestacion 1987...
- Timeline of LGBT historyTimeline of LGBT historyThe following is a timeline of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender related history.-9660 to 5000 BC:* Mesolithic rock art in Sicily depicts phallic male figures in pairs that have been interpreted variously, including as depictions of homosexual intercourse.-7000 to 1700 BC:*Among the sexual...
External links
Informative- National Council to Prevent Discrimination — official website.
- National Center for the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS — official website.
- Anodis — Mexican news agency about sexual diversity.
Other
- Gay Mexico — gay online magazine.
- Antros Gay — list of gay bars and clubs in Mexico.
- MexGay — information about gay-friendly tourist destinations in Mexico.