There is a large LGBTQ community in Mexico City, which became the first major city in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage in 2010.[1] In 2019, Oscar Lopez of Slate said Mexico City "has become something of a queer oasis. It's here where LGBTQ people enjoy more rights than anywhere else in the country".[2]
Casa Frida works with approximately 300 LGBTQ asylum seekers and migrants in the city, as well as Monterrey and Tapachula.[9] According to NBC News, a "campaign led by the Organization for Refuge, Asylum and Migration, or ORAM, which assists LGBTQ asylum-seekers, has launched a campaign in Mexico to raise money to offer safe shelter, food and transportation for a month to 100 LGBTQ refugees or asylum-seekers in Mexico City."[10]
Gay bars and nightlife
The Zona Rosa ("Pink Zone") is the city's most prominent LGBTQ entertainment district, with many gay bars and other nightlife.[11][12]
La Cañita is a beach-themed bar and restaurant near downtown.[13] Staff at La Purísima, which has been described as an "unapologetically irreverent" gay bar, dress as Catholic nuns and priests.[14] Rvuelta Queer House has been described as an "artsy, queer indoor-outdoor resto-bar-community centre" with "a young heart and an old soul".[15] Other gay bars have included Baños Finisterre, Club Roshell, El Nueve, Marrakech Salón, La Perla, Sodome, and Tom's Leather Bar.[16]
Formations of Spaces and Communities
As with any cultural or social in-group, those within the LGBTQ+ community have different designated spaces to foster fellowship. Further, as the LGBTQ+ community consists of a wide variety of identities, there are also a multitude of subgroups which create their own unique spaces and communities. Though there are many reasons that these subgroups are formed, a prominent factor is the institutionalized fear that are perpetuated through acts of violence driven by notions of sex and gender-based phobias (i.e., hate crimes).[17] However, as a reaction to these acts of discrimination, hate, or violence, LGBTQ+ individuals gravitate to forming communities of resistance.[18]
El Ambiente
El ambiente, or queer space, is a distinctive sphere formed through relations--intimate, affectionate, ideological, or material--that are not seen as stereotypical from Western, heteronormative notions of gender and sexuality relations.[19] This sphere, in which nontraditional relational forms such as same-sex marriage and polyamory are more openly discussed and expressed, represents a noticeable shift from Western heterosexual and cisgender spheres. The term queer is a Westernized one and is one that is often only used in academic settings in Mexico.[19] Therefore, El Ambiente emerged as a reaction, a distinctly masculine sphere, to Westernized notions of the LGBTQ+ experience.
Transgender Coalitions
Within the broader LGBTQ+ community created in Mexico City, trans women in particular have worked to develop a community of resistance against the high rise in transgender genocide. Beyond resistance, though, they build a community in hopes of understanding what it means to be trans femme.[20] Though, as the understanding of what constitutes a woman is both ample and capacious, there are several such cases of trans women forming coalitions with lesbians.[18][20] These coalitions are formed with the knowledge that any person who identifies or presents as feminine is more at risk of facing harassment, prejudice, or femicide; the groups come together to foster community and organize political resistance.[18]
What is commonly known as a welcoming area for tourists and locals, Mexico City, or sometimes referred to as "The City of Palaces," did not showcase much of its friendliness as the area struggled to accept the LGBTQIA+ community between the 1950s-1980s.[22] Another nickname for Mexico City is Chilangolandia, and the loud, loutish meaning behind it was shown through the personal difficulties the queer community faced, such as discrimination, shocked by the actions of its own national government and local people. Change was needed as 1920s dandyism paved the path for queer culture, especially in the 1970s and onwards, as it challenged social and sexual norms and raised awareness for liberation.[23] It was difficult for locals to identify with the LGBTQIA+ community; many in Mexico City did not accept individuals from this community because of social norms present, such as machismo and homophobia.[24] This notion fostered a feeling of rejection among locals toward people who did not fit traditional masculine standards. A groundwork was laid through machismo to discriminate against Queer people, but it started to evolve once people realized the struggle of the LGBTQIA+ community.
The Need for Representation
With the growing awareness of basic rights and protection for the queer community came the need for necessary change to support local communities. There has been significant progress in the legislation in Mexico City throughout the early 2000s. In the 1990s, there was a rapid increase in demand for rights that support LGBTQIA+ identifying locals. According to the Gaceta Oficial de Distrito Federal de Ciudad de Mexico, sexual orientation discrimination was first incorporated into Mexico's civil codes in 1999. This was the start of the policy work that would lay the foundation for future changes in codes and the creation of new ones that liberated public social expression for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Anti-Discrimination Codes
The history of how policies were manipulated displays significant information on why they were necessary. Change was necessary to support the LGBTQIA+ community, but they had many challenges along its way with the current government policies. Mexico passed its first federal anti-discrimination law on June 11, 2003.[25] The law criminalized discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It also led to the establishment of the Consejo Nacional Para Prevenir la Discriminación, a council driven to enforce these policies. This was the law that set the idea to prevent and eradicate discrimination in the federal district. Of the first few changes, the Anti-Discrimination Law was able to create awareness and unity to pave paths for necessary changes to connect queer struggle with social justice.
Same-Sex Marriage & Adoption Codes
Similar struggles for queer representation were present in 2009 as Article 146 reformed previous codes by altering the definition of marriage. The change went from the previous wording of "the free union between a man and woman" to the current code stating "the free union between two individuals to create a community of life in which each individual respects the other, seeks equality, and mutual support," with the importance of noting no mention of a particular gender. This is a significant change as it made Mexico City the first capital city in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage.[26] Since then, the General Directorate of the Civil Registry (DGRC) of Mexico City has invited couples from the Benito Juárez and Coyoacán municipalities to participate in the free-marriage process near the end of the year called collective weddings.[27] There have been more than 2,500 couples who have benefited from the initiative. The aim is to guarantee the right to marry to celebrate civil unions, no matter the identity or gender of all citizens in Mexico City.
From the change in Article 146, the Civil Code's adoption provision was not influenced by the new modification. The National Action Party (PAN) vowed to fight the law through the referendum process, but the Federal District Legislative Assembly rejected the proposal. After many years of rejecting constitutional challenges by different states, the changes to the previous civil code also included adoption criteria. Previously, the union of same-sex marriages would not allow people to adopt children. With the new change, same-sex adoption between two people was allowed, only after many suits by the Attorney General Arturo Chávez Chávez to challenge the original policy.[28]
Transgender Murder Law
A law known as "Ley Paola Buenrostro", which was introduced by the United Commissions on Gender Equality and Administration and Prosecution of Justice, makes the murder of a transgender person punishable by as many as 70 years in prison. It was approved by the state legislature in a 45 to 1 vote. Mexico City become the nation's second to pass such a law.[29][30]
Popular culture
This Is Not Berlin (2019) is about a teenager living in the city during the 1986 World Cup and has been described as a "love letter" to Mexico City's queer punks.[31]
↑Monsiváis, Carlos; Kraniauskas, John (1997). Mexican postcards. Critical studies in Latin American and Iberian cultures. London; New York: Verso. ISBN978-0-86091-604-8.
↑Irwin, Robert McKee; McCaughan, Ed; Nasser, Michelle Rocío, eds. (2003). The famous 41: sexuality and social control in Mexico, c. 1901. New directions in Latino American cultures. New York, N.Y.; Basingstoke, Eng: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN978-1-4039-6048-1.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
