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 [...]
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“Lo que se ve no se pregunta”: Christian Chávez
Decades had to pass by before a mainstream Mexican musical artist dared to talk openly about his homosexuality–and with not as much criticism as one could have expected. Compared to Juan Gabriel and Fabiruchis’ stories, shaped by ambiguity and lies, Christian Chavez’s coming out story is an example of how much easier is to deal with homosexuality [...]
Only Women
I began using the Mexico City subway when I was around twelve or thirteen. The difficult thing of the new adventure was not only to understand the intricate labyrinth that is every subway in the world. The first and constant challenge to face was the rush hour, both during mornings and afternoons, which translated into [...]
Lesbian, Mother and Mexican
They are not part of the statistics. They are not material for articles during Mother’s day. Even as the press across the country runs stories about single mothers, teenagers becoming mothers or the polemical business of renting your uterus for couples with fertility problems: none of the articles mention Lesbian motherhood. But the lesbian mothers [...]
“Lo que se ve no se pregunta”: Fabiruchis
His mistake was not paying up. His punishment was having to see his bloodied, unrecognisable face on the covers of tabloids all over the city. This was the ironic story of Fabian Lavalle, a.k.a. Fabiruchis, the host of Mexican gossip show La Tijera. Fabiruchis was forced to face a flood of gossip and speculation about [...]
“Lo que se ve no se pregunta”: Juan Gabriel
When asked directly about his sexual orientation during a TV show broadcasted all across Mexico, singer Juan Gabriel made one of the most definitive statements about homosexuality, private life and its links to the hypocritical sectors of Mexican society. Indeed, in the Mexican mainstream there is a moral double standard that accepts the existence of [...]
Public Displays of Affection
Something that I began noticing on my first trip to Mexico City and that still grabs my attention is the necking that seems to be taking place on benches, lawns, and (occasional) street corners throughout the city. Kissing does not adequately describe these fits of public love-making: these are not gentle pecks exchanged before parting, [...]
The “new” Zona Rosa
On a warm Thursday evening in the Zona Rosa, a gay neighborhood on the edge of Mexico City’s financial district, day-time businesses like clothing stores, beauty spas and little restaurants frequented by office employees are closing for the night, giving way to the younger population that walks up and down the streets of the Zona [...]