XXI Semana Cultural Lésbica-Gay

From June 24th to 27th the Semana Cultural Lésbica-Gay will be celebrated in Mexico City. This year, the slogan is “Desvío en construcción” (Deviation or Detour under construction) and it will take place in many venues in the city.

The man in charge of this particular event was José María Covarrubias, a life-time activist during the tough seventies and eighties who fought against homophobia in Mexico. He used to organize the Semana Cultural Gay at the Museo del Chopo, which hosted the event for twenty years in a row. A big success, especially taking into account how difficult it was for scared gays and lesbians to come out of the closet and gather together. Also, one of his biggest battles was the series of public protests demanding to solve the assassinations of 14 transvestites in Chiapas.

In 2003, la Pepa, as some of his friends called him, locked himself in a hotel room, wrote a posthumous note and saved himself from a torturous death caused by HIV, as an impoverished man who could not afford medical treatments.

In 2006, Altarte, a new gay organization took over the Semana Gay, facing a big obstacle: the Museo del Chopo is being remodelled, hence, there can’t be an “official” venue where the Semana can take place.

However, the inconvenience soon proved to be a better way to find people willing to host different events all over the city. As a continuation of Covarrubias’ work, but I would say even better because of the circumstances and the changes that have taken place in some sectors of Mexican society, the Semana Cultural Lésbica-Gay now celebrates its XXI edition. The program includes conferences, dance, book readings, photography, music and a series of performance acts “lo que se ve no se juzga”.

All of this sounds like a happy-ending story, but still there is a lot to do. The Semana Cultural ends with the gay parade as its main event. This year, one of the demands is to categorize violence against LGBT people as hate crimes in the local and federal scene.

To see the complete program of the Semana click here