Can a facade of gay-friendliness help build a foundation?

The legislature of the state of Puebla voted this week to name May 17th “el Día Estatal Contra la Homofobia.” Though the measure appears to be purely symbolic, according to El Universal, supporters hope it will help lay the groundwork in the fight against homophobia in the notoriously conservative state of Puebla.

Brahim Zamora Salazar, president of the Democracy and Sexuality Network of Puebla (Red Democracia y Sexualidad), was quick to criticize the federal corollary of this day, vaguely named the Día de la Tolerancia y Respeto hacia las Preferencias (Day of Tolerance and Respect for Preferences):

“If the federal government–because of its homophobic and intolerant beliefs–insists on ignoring the problem by using a euphemism, then we in the states will push initiatives that do name the problem and spell it out in plain letters: homophobia is a problem in our society that needs to be named, condemned, and attacked.”

So, kudos to the 31 state legislators who voted for the measure, and let’s hope it’s the beginning of other, more meaningful legislation. If the comments on El Universal’s article are any indication, there is clearly still a lot of work to be done.

Although the municipality of Mexico City has been performing same-sex marriages locally since March, today, Argentina became the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage. I can only hope that Mexico (and the United States, and everywhere else…) follow in the footsteps of the “Southern Cone.”

This was the third time I organized a conference where he was the key note speaker. And the first time that despite canceling last minute, I convinced him to take the red eye flight from Mexico City to Montreal to give his keynote. It was the middle of winter and it was horrible, so I awaited Monsiváis at the airport fully equipped with winter clothes, which he denied at first but after feeling the first wave of cold air freezing everything including his eye balls, he conceded to the hat, the gloves, the coat, the scarf, etc. The conversation took us to the different AIDS treatments in Mexico and Canada and very soon after my many awkward attempts to impress him the magic happened: I think we clicked. He said, “Call me Carlos.”

During the three days we spent together I noticed his humbleness and was privileged to get a taste of what characterized him: his way of chronicling reality, making an art out of irony. We were witnessing similar things, while walking on the street buying movies, having dinner at a fancy restaurant with important McGill officers, attending an artsy private screening of a porn film, waiting on an elevator, eating lunch, yet he notice a different reality — always sharp, without any warning and full of irony — and chronicled it to me, the spectator.

What I first thought after hearing the news was: What am I going to think now?  What am I going to know what I am supposed to think? Not that we can not think for ourselves, but no one can equal his capacity to synthesize personal, political, past, future, present, local, and humorously, and to do it in one article that denounces the evil  and highlights the advantages of  everything from policies, treaties and politicians, to songs and cultural events. There are innumerable things we lost with his passing away. There is no space for a public intellectual anymore, that figure that is beyond academia and activism, who belongs to both and is an authority not only to the fellow critics and people but to the government.  He was our public intellectual and he is gone. And his humor is gone too. How are we going to laugh at tragedy now?

Then I thought I missed out in a chronicle of a Mexico he only knew through his personal romantic encounters. In Macha Mexico’s last post on Monsiváis, Anahí talks about how Monsivais never came out of the closet publicly yet he was one of the main defenders of the LGBT rights in Mexico, always writing against homophobia and most recently in favor of the same-sex marriage in Mexico City.

It got me thinking. Yes, I wanted to read a chronicle of all his love affairs. I wanted him to write and for all of us to know that Mexico of high level politicians, of pop icons, of random cabaretito personalities, of ambassadors, of particular secretary’s of governors, of protégées. What will Mexico look like if every one of them was outed by a posthuma novel written by Monsiváis? I couldn’t believe the Mexico that was opening before my eyes when Carlos shared with me his personal affairs. Yet, now, it got me thinking.

In the Anglo Euro-American world a primary level of identification is gender and sexuality and there is the assumption that more visibility equals more freedom and civil rights. But I think, we in Latin America have to be more cautious with this assumption. More visibility doesn’t necessary equal more power. We are millions of brown people in Mexico City, thousands of indigenous yet racism is more than prevalent — actually there was a protest not long ago where many campesinos and campesinas protested at the Zocalo, this time naked  thinking it will gain them more visibility. It did, but not from the the government and their pleas were not heard.

I was pleased that the LGBT community claimed a place in the ceremony of Monsiváis’ wake, as much as the UNAM and Mexico’s flags did. But I am most happy that although Carlos shared so much with Mexico, he kept so much more for himself. Yes, we should not be scared of talking about sexuality  but it doesn’t guarantee more freedom. It also got me thinking about private-public. Heterosexuality needs no coming out, yet for non-normative sexual identities, not only there is no privacy but the pressure to become “visible for the cause.” I am all for more visibility  but if we want to learn from the LGBTT movement in the Anglo Euro-American world, identifying primarily through gender and sexuality is not a guarantee of  civil rights and it cannot be measured in quantifying or qualifying terms. There is really no binary division, no way of measuring the power of saying or not saying  and silence too,  can be very powerful.

Macha Mexico is honored to publish this unique perspective on the passing of Carlos Monsiváis. Thank you, Susanísima, for sharing this account and your ideas in this space.

Last Saturday, during Carlos Monsiváis’ wake at Museo de la Ciudad de México, a group of young people unfolded a gay flag and put it on the writer’s coffin. Someone tried to take it away, but the group insisted and placed it right between Mexico and UNAM flags. So far, only one journalist has talked explicitly about Monsiváis’ sexuality and his links with the Mexican LGBT community.

A similar episode (link in Spanish) took place again during the wake in Bellas Artes. This time, it was the Mexican journalist Jenaro Villamil who put the rainbow flag on the casket despite the negative reaction of Consuelo Sáizar, president of the National Council for Culture and Arts (Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes).

A third episode of awkwardness was described by Andrés Duque, when musician and LGBT activist Horacio Franco not only played the flute right next to the casket, but also confirmed the rumors about Monsiváis’ sexuality in an interview with a LGBT website.

Carlos Monsiváis was one of the most influential intellectuals and writers in Mexico. He was a prolific author who also learned how to use radio and TV in order to disseminate his opinions about the PRI, the Catholic church and the conservative groups that dominate the Mexican government under the PAN’s rule.

Carlos Monsiváis' wake at Bellas Artes, via La Jornada

Above all, Monsi, as many of his fans called him, was considered the undisputed chronicler of Mexico City, where passers by could recognize him on the street—a privilege that very few intellectuals have, given the separation between academia and so-called popular culture in Mexico. Monsiváis was born and brought up within a Presbyterian family in San Simon Ticumac, a poor neighborhood of Mexico City, a fact that other intellectuals of his same generation with well-to-do backgrounds despised, making Monsiváis something like an outcast within the Mexican intelligentsia.

As an activist, Monsiváis was part of the 1968 movement that ended in the massacre in Tlatelolco, he supported the Zapatista movement in 1994, and labeled the elections of 2006 that took away the presidency from López Obrador a “fraud”.

As any other controversial character, Monsiváis had his flaws: His colleagues and close friends considered him a misogynist, and despite his close links with the feminist and LGBT movements, he never came out of the closet publicly. Like Juan Gabriel, one of the many pop icons that fascinated Monsiváis, he kind of choose to follow the principle of lo que se ve no se pregunta, while defending LGBT rights in Mexico and pointing out the homophobia and double standards with which the Catholic church attacked the LGBT community and, more recently, same-sex marriage in Mexico City.

It is kind of ironic that Monsiváis was outed during his wake, posing questions about the right to live (and die?) in the closet and the power of visibility for the LGBT community. But if you think about it, the gay flag made it to Bellas Artes, the most prestigious place where someone can have her or his wake in Mexico. To give some idea of how important is this, Frida Kahlo‘s wake was in that building. The fact that the LGBT community claimed a place in this ceremony speaks to a new generation that wants to publicly acknowledge the not-so-short history of Mexico’s LGBT community. It talks about the importance of sexuality when it comes to define an identity that, like in Monsiváis’ case, was shaped by being Mexican, attending the UNAM, and being a gay man.

We’ll never know how Monsiváis would feel about this forced outing, but it is certainly sad to read “Monsiváis never married and had no children” as if that could define his personal life (and happiness) at all.

If Monsiváis’ death means the end of an era, let’s hope for a new generation that embraces all the different aspects that shape human beings, including sexuality, and the joy that comes along with it when it is accepted as part of life.

This evening, the LGBT community will celebrate the legalization of same-sex marriage in Mexico City. After members of Mexico City PAN (National Action Party) fought against the bill–politically supported by Mexican president Felipe Calderón–the Supreme Court dismissed six appeals coming from the governors of Baja California, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Morelos, Sonora and Tlaxcala who argued that same-sex marriage law affected the principle of autonomy of the other states.

In spite of the triumph, some still speculate that the law will rise conservative reactions in other states, as it has happened after Mexico City government legalized abortion in 2007 which inspired 17 states to penalize those women who practice it and making D.F. some kind of island of lefty rights for women, and now for same-sex couples who probably will travel to Mexico City to get married.

However, the law requires that one of the members of the couple has to live in Mexico City for at least six months. Also, beware that today is the official day in which same-sex couple are allowed to petition a date to get married, which means that the actual weddings will start until March 12. If you are interested in getting married to a chilango or chilanga, you have to pay around 70 dollars (if you are marrying at the City Hall); if you are getting married at home you pay around 60 dollars, and if the judge has to go out of his or her jurisdiction you pay around 500 dollars. The good news is that massive marriages are for free, so you can expect a bunch of couples celebrating very soon. I guess that’ll be the case of Lol Kin Castañeda and Judith Vázquez, and Jesusa Rodríguez and Liliana Felipe, so expect more news on same-sex weddings. So far I haven’t known about any public gay male couples getting married, but promise to share the information if that’s the case.

The appointment today is at 5 pm at the Hemiciclo a Juárez (a.k.a HOmociclo a Juárez), very close to Bellas Artes and Hidalgo subway stations, right in front of Sheraton Hotel in Centro Histórico.

The same group that organized the march in defense of same-sex marriage last Saturday will host a series of lectures and debates next Tuesday and Wednesday regarding a series of matters:  human and gay rights, the separation between the Church and the State, the concept of family, and sexual diversity.

Activists and politicians closely involved in GLBT rights will speak during this event (including Rep. David Razú, who proposed the same-sex marriage bill). If you want to see the whole program you can click here.

Foro Derechos, ciudadanía y diversidad sexual, February 9th and 10th, 10 hrs., Comisión de Derechos Humanos del Distrito Federal, Av. Universidad No. 1449, Col. Florida, Phone number: 5229 5600.

After same-sex marriage was legalized last December 21st, conservatives in Mexico City didn’t wait long to protest and take action against this legal decision. Mariana Gómez del Campo from the conservative Partido de Acción Nacional is the leader of a campaign against same-sex marriage who argues, first, that Mexican constitution states that marriage should be between a man and a woman. Second, Gómez del Campo and her followers argue that adoption by same-sex couples is against the rights of children. Having total support from President Felipe Calderón, Gómez del Campo has been promoting her cause through the press. Also, in order to prove how right she is about how a family should be, she conducted a survey to ask if Mexican people agree or not with same-sex marriage. The results were not reliable since the sample was too small to be representative of a general opinion. However, it proved to be a tool to promote negative opinions regarding GLBT families within Mexican society.

While many same-sex couples are already waiting for March 4th, the day in which they could legally marry, those who have children are worried about the consequences of a possible backlash that Gómez del Campo is promoting. Some even ask themselves if the endless desire of DF government to become the most advanced bastion–if not the only one in the whole country–in terms of social rights will always mean a worse situation for the rest of the country. It has already happened with abortion: after Mexico City’s government legalized abortion in 2007, 11 states have changed their local laws in order to criminalize women who had (illegal and dangerous) abortions.

The fact is that next Saturday a march will take place in order to defend same-sex marriage and adoption rights for same-sex couples. To be honest, I don’t really know who is organizing the march, in spite of having thoroughly perused their website. However, if you are interested in going, the poster above gives the information about the march. The tour will depart from the Ángel de la Indepedencia, and the last stop will be Calderon’s residency, Los Pinos.

In case some doubt that same-sex families do not exist in Mexico, you can click here.

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York has said he will introduce a comprehensive immigration reform bill early this year.  A window is opening to pass UAFA.   Please send a personalized appeal to your Senators to stand with our families at this critical moment.

Please take action now to contact your Senators to urge them to tell Schumer:  comprehensive immigration reform is not comprehensive if it does not include UAFA and LGBT families!

Even if you have called and sent a letter before, please send one again!  The time for members of Congress to hear that this is important to their constituents is NOW.

Step 1 - Write both of your Senators.

• Click here to send a letter to your Senators.
• Please, please customize and personalize your letters — especially if you are a New Yorker. A customized letter will have much, much greater weight.
• At the top, explain why inclusion of UAFA and lesbian and gay families in comprehensive immigration reform is so important to you, your family, friends, and community.

Step 2 – Call both of your Senators.

• After you send your letter, please also call your Senators’ offices.
• Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for your Senator (you can tell them your state and they can tell you who your Senators are).
• Tell your senator:

“Senator Schumer has said he will introduce a comprehensive immigration reform bill early this year.  I urge Senator _______ [your Senator’s name] to tell Senator Schumer to support inclusion of gay and lesbian families and the Uniting American Families Act in his bill.  Comprehensive immigration reform is not comprehensive unless it includes ALL families.”

NOTE: New Yorkers calling Senator Schumer should amend this script.  Urge Senator Schumer to include gay and lesbian families and the Uniting American Families Act in his bill.

• Then call the Switchboard again and repeat with your other Senator.

I’ve written before about immigration reform. This legislation will allow GLBT Americans to sponsor their same-sex partners for permanent visas, the same way that married straight people can now. As one half of a binational lesbian couple, I strongly encourage all of our readers to take the few minutes necessary to reach out to their senators about the Uniting American Families Act.

same-sex marriage = gay tourism = $$

Mexico City tourism minister Alejandro Rojas is planning for the increase in gay tourism that he says will result from the city’s recent decision to legalize same-sex marriage. Last Wednesday La Jornada reported that Rojas is looking forward to the influx of capital that will result from gay-marriage-related tourism and calls for greater tolerance from the city’s religious communities, suggesting that the Catholic Church has its own problems to deal with.  Rojas says that the city will be investing 100 million pesos into a new gay-friendly hotel in the Zona Rosa and will support the development of other businesses that cater to the GLBT market.

The article makes no bones about the economic motives involved, mentioning that increases in gay-tourism have been the natural result of legal gay marriage in other cities in the world, spawning gay-friendly “bridal” boutiques, wedding venues, beauty salons, and hotels. The author cites statistics claiming that 15% of global tourism is gay tourism. What do they call us again? D.I.N.K.’s: Dual Income, No Kids. So that‘s why we’re such a profitable subset of the population to tap into…

This all makes me wonder about the effectiveness, the limits, and the ethics of using gay spending power to open people’s minds about gay people and gay marriage, especially in the context of tourism from the “First World” to Mexico. Does politely taking the money of a white gay couple from north of the border translate into politely receiving your gay son’s boyfriend at a family dinner? And, as Anahí pointed out to me, the only gay people benefitting from this 100 million peso investment are those that can afford to stay at a luxury hotel in the Zona Rosa. I have always found Mexico City to be a very gay friendly city, but I say that as a white American who has never had to go to a local junior high school, hospital, or police precinct.

I hope that the passage of this same-sex marriage bill means that Rojas is correct, that Mexico City will become a truly “gay friendly” city, one in which all GLBT people can live and visit with safety, dignity, and joy.

Hello my name is homophobic.

If you want to see an ugly reminder that not everyone is happy about the Mexico City assembly’s decision to legalist gay marriage, head over to Blabbeando, where Andrés reports about Televisa host Esteban Arce using his morning show as a platform for his sixth-grade level homophobia. Arce has all the class of Bill O’Reilly as his berates the invited psychologist for suggesting that homosexuality is normal. Because, you know, sexuality is about procreation, plain and simple! How could anyone possibly be born with a sexual orientation that isn’t about making babies?

When I am in Mexico, I am almost always so immersed in my gay community that I honestly forget the intense homophobia that is still far too present in mainstream Mexican culture. Thanks to Andrés for bringing our attention to this asshole’s hateful agenda.

Click here for Blabbeando’s full post.