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 when you talk openly about it.

Christian is one of the five members of the pop music group Rebelde (Rebel), launched to fame and success by the novela (soap opera) of the same name. The show followed the adventures of a fictional group of fresas who decide to form a pop band. The popularity of the show spawned a series of  billboard hits, complemented by a whole marketing project that included a series of million-selling cd’s, t-shirts, perfume, a lame magazine and several concerts across the country, followed by tours in the United States, Canada, Latin America and Europe. All well dressed, each one of the members represented the new way to be a stylish “rebel”; one that would not shake the basic structure of the establishment.

However, one morning Christian Chávez published a six-page press-release talking about his homosexuality. The public declaration was the result of a series of photos published in the tabloids that showed Chávez getting married to a man in Canada. In the text, the 23 years-old singer and actor talked about his fear of rejection from his family, criticism and judgment, logical consequences of coming out of the closet as a young male and a public figure. Also, Chávez talked about love and how much he trusted his friends and fans to support him, as long as he was being honest with himself and hence, with the people that love him.

Tabloids, paparazzi and any kind of possible blackmailers vanished as soon as the letter was published, especially after Chavez’s friends and family were shown giving unconditional support, which included Rebelde members stating that gayness was not a reason to expel Christian from the group. At the same time, other actors and singers hired by the same network congratulated their workmate for his truthfulness.

Feeling free of any kind of accusations, Christian Chávez was careful enough to address part of his letter to worried parents that could see him as the instrument of the devil. “Your children are not going to see anything bad”, said Chávez referring to his public behaviour as a worshipped figure among teenagers.

Nowadays, after Rebelde’s sensation, Christian performs in the Mexican version of Avenue Q. Chávez saved his skin just in time, right before gossiping press began with the infinite and profitable business of speculation. It’s true that Christian’s declaration was the result of Mexican press pressures and attempts of blackmail, rather than a self-conscious, personal decision in the first place. However, his decision to respond to the gossip honestly, rather than attempting to deny the obvious, and his continued success despite this admission, is something other closeted celebrities should take note of.

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 his own sexuality after he was assaulted by a young man that he accompanied to a hotel room.

The official version of the story, given by the victim himself, was that in November of 2007 a random man offered to take him to a place where he could meet “cool girls” (“chicas buena onda”). Lured by the proposal, Lavalle followed him to a hotel in the Colonia Roma, where the guy took his money and bit him violently. In a city where a kidnapping is always a juicy news story, it was widely reported that Lavalle had been the victim of an “express kidnapping”, the version put forward by Lavalle’s sister after the attack.

However, no chilango bought the Lavalles’ claims, especially after the “kidnapper”, Alfredo Cervantes Landa, turned out to be a male sex-worker. According to Cervantes, they had known each other since 2003, and that he was hired by Lavalle, who took him to the 121 Jalapa street hotel. He defended his violent actions as self-defense, claiming that Lavalle hit him first after refusing to pay for the requested services.

This story was a dream for Mexican paparazzi. The drugs, alcohol, and violence were extras–the real shocker was Lavalle’s persistant attempt to deny what everybody already knew, that he is gay.

Instead of taking Juan Gabriel’s approach–refusing to answer a question everyone already knows the answer to (“lo que se ve no se pregunta”)–Fabiruchis chose to deny his gayness outright. His closet has not served him well. Rumors of blackmail and photographs containing images of him kissing a young man have been some of the fallout of his refusal to publicly comment on, or at least clarify, his sexual orientation. By denying his gayness in the face of this scandal, Fabiruchis allowed the gossip to grow louder and more judgemental.

Further, in light of a legal suit filed by Cervantes, it seems that Fabiruchis has had to worry about his pocketbook as well as his reputation.

Of course, the upside to this scandal is that the continuous gossip has provided plenty of publicity for a new play in which Lavalle plays himself. We’ve seen it work with Britney and Paris in the states. In the play, Lavalle makes fun of himself and the scandal that has launched him into the public eye.

If humor–black humor–gives us strenth in difficult situations, perhaps that is why Lavalle now has the bravery to say that his sexuality is no one’s business, rather than continuing to deny the obvious.

This article is the second in our series “lo que se ve no se pregunta” in which we shamelessly gossip about Mexican celebrities who are rumored to be gay.

With his response, the phrase, lo que se ve no se pregunta, loosely translated as “there’s no need to ask about something that is obvious,” soon became a political declaration against those who believe they have the right to ask or interrogate about private life and intimacy. Moreover, by this declaration, Juan Gabriel made fun of the gossip, neither admitting nor denying his homosexuality, and still holding the power ambiguity gives. His statement meant: if Mexican society prefers to ignore the fact that I am gay, let’s ignore it together, but you already know what lies underneath.

Juan Gabriel became famous during the eighties, due to his lyrics that talk about love and its implications: hatred, betrayal, cheating, passion, jealousy, and of course, the lies that couples want to believe in order to keep the illusion of love alive. Born in 1949, Alberto Aguilera Valadez grew up in tough Ciudad Juarez, the famous border city where a long series of unsolved female murders have taken place since 1993. After working at some random bars throughout the city, Juan Gabriel made his way to Mexico City. Legend tells that he was unfairly accused of robbing and put in prison for a year and a half.

After that incident, Juan Gabriel was introduced to a couple of Mexican producers, jumping to fame. In 1972, Juan Gabriel made his way to the highest levels of the Mexican charts, and also made his fans happy to ignore his effeminate manners. At the pinnacle of his career, Juan Gabriel had a series of concerts in the Palacio de Bellas Artes, with his Northern music played by an orchestra. Again, if the Mexican elite was somehow scandalized, the rhythm of Juan Gabriel’s music made everyone forget the sacrilege.

Juan Gabriel’s occasional duets with Rocío Durcal, a Spanish singer from Andalucía, would later become inspiration for transvestite shows in Mexican gay clubs, parodies of the classic friendship between a straight woman and her artsy gay friend.

Never married, Juan Gabriel has never been linked to a concrete partner. However, this hasn’t stopped the tabloids from spreading wild rumors: there was the anonymous transsexual woman who had an M to F surgery in order to marry Juan Gabriel in London. Of course the craziest and ultimate gossip positions Juan Ga, as his fans lovingly call him, having sex with Rocío Durcal’s husband.

Juan Gabriel remains one of the most interesting icons of Mexican popular culture. Only a couple of years ago, Juan Gabriel went to prison for tax evasion. A scandal that made him state that the injustice was that people pay their taxes, but the serial murders in Ciudad Juarez still have no guilt to be condemned. A melodramatic statement that points out the dynamics of a society where moral still has contradictory limits.