Mexican Families

The concept of “family” has been changing over the years. Around the globe, the traditional model of dad-mom-children is not the only example to follow anymore, and Mexico is not an exception in this trend.

An example of this is the series of photographs taken by Óscar Sánchez since 1996 of queer families living in Mexico City. Twelve of them are being exhibited in the Centro Médico subway station, as part of the Semana Cultural Lésbica Gay 2008 (Gay and Lesbian Week, 2008). The series represents a useful effort to documenting the changes that are taking place in Mexico regarding the practice of shaping alternative families, in the outskirts of society. The exhibition works to move these families closer to the mainstream.

It is worth to mention that in 2007, Mexico City’s congress passed leyes de convivencia or “the law of cohabitation,” in order to make official the unions of same-sex couples. Supposedly, this new legal status would empower gay and lesbian couples, giving them the same rights that straight couples enjoy. However, the law was mainly symbolic, and didn’t make significant changes to rights that queer couples already had. For instance, they were already allowed to leave possessions to the same-sex partner when they die, and could make medical decisions if their partner goes into a coma. The paper work that has to be done is the same as before.

These images will force subway passengers to face a reality that is often ignored by the mainstream media, who chose not to keep up with the transformations of society.

Mexican Families; Centro Médico subway station, from 6th to 30th June 2008.