Sexy glances, veiled smiles, subtle movements and coded signs. Desire between men—and sometimes women—made public in the smallest space of the city is what you can observe in the last car of certain Mexico City subway trains. Also known as the vagón rosa (pink car) or cajita feliz (happy, little box, the Spanish term for a McDonalds happy meal) this car is famous among Mexican queers because of the quick encounters that you can arrange there.
I couldn’t say that I am talking about an urban legend, since I myself have seen actual gay men riding the pink car on purpose. They look for fun, or perhaps for something more physical; sometimes striking the pose, sometimes just sitting there and aiming their looks to possible “victims”.
I know that there are many places spread all over the city where gay men can enjoy sensual adventures framed by secrecy. These are clandestine places that fit with the idea of being gay and hence, to be compelled to live in an underground culture. As a woman, I cannot enter those venues comfortably, but I do enjoy knowing about this secret dynamic in which, I am sure, presumably straight, married men can be found in spite of the ruling moral. There is no doubt that the pink-car is the only place where such clandestine meetings can be witnessed by women or every person who is aware enough of what takes place there.
Specific techniques and methods can only be described by a protagonist, but I’ve heard that blue tooth in cell phones is a useful tool. Gay men open this device inside the pink-car, receive id’s and provocative images, the next step being just to pick the right candidate.
With respect to machas, I have just one friend who dares to flirt in the pink-car, and there is no record of her going all the way to a physical encounter. I guess it is not the same for women, but maybe that’s due to change….
The most famous station to get on the pink-car is Insurgentes, which takes you to the Zona Rosa. However, I have witnessed the same phenomenon at other stops of the same line like Sevilla, Cuauhtémoc or Balderas…