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.

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.

Agustín Estrada Negrete, moments before the cops took him to a basement. Foto: José Hernández, via La Jornada.

The worst nightmare for a queer person became reality for Professor Agustín Estrada Negrete last May 7th. He was arrested and beaten by the police in the State of Mexico, and then taken to the federal maximum security prison, Almoloya de Juárez, where he was sexually abused.

Estrada Negrete’s story began a year ago, when as a director of a school for children with disabilities, Centro de Atención Múltiple (CAM), he was invited by the Human Rights Coordination in Ecatepec to celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia. Professor Estrada Negrete wore a red dress, emulating a character from the movie The Birdcage, walking along with his mother, Guadalupe Estrada, during the parade. The image appeared in  local papers, which prompted some teachers to denounce Estrada Negrete as a dangerous person for the children he taught at the CAM.

A few days later, Ernesto Monroy Yurrieta, undersecretary of Elementary Education in the State of Mexico, offered Estrada Negrete a one-year-leave. During that year, parents and students organized 17 rallies asking the authorities to reinstate Agustín Estrada Negrete as director of the CAM.

As a result of the protests, Deputy Secretary General of State, Luis Felipe Puente Espinoza, scheduled a meeting to resolve the issue. Estrada Negrete arrived, followed by his lawyer Jaime López Vela, a LGBT activist, as well as parents and students that support the professor. At the same time, police corps arrived in order to stop any attempt of the group to talk to the governor in front of the TV cameras that were already placed in front of the municipal building.

Nervous about the presence of Enrique Peña Nieto, governor of the State of Mexico, Puente Espinoza tried to deter the protesters, and allowed entrance only to Estrada Negrete. When Estrada asked for the presence of his lawyer, parents and students suddenly realized that the lawyer/activist was already being beaten inside a patrol car. Estrada Negrete tried to run towards the vehicle, but several cops stopped him and beat him and other protesters–among them, mothers and children.

Estrada Negrete was taken to the basement of the building of the Ministry of Justice., where he was tortured by police. His lawyer received the same treatment, although separately. After an entire day of physical assaults, Estrada Negrete was taken to Almoloya de Juárez, a maximum security prison where drug cartel leaders, kidnappers, and murderers share space. There, the torture and humiliation continued, until an anonymous con man handed a phone card to Professor Estrada and informed him that other prisoners were planning to kill him.

Fortunately, Professor Estrada could call his sister. On May 8th, Estrada Negrete stepped out of Almoloya, after paying a $2000 fine. When he tried to formally complain about the sexual assault, authorities in charge said “We are not allowed to take any declaration from you”.

Today, Agustín Estrada is in a hidden place, where he has received some help from the United Nations. Even though the UN accused the government of the State of Mexico of homophobia, torture, and sexual abuse, the action seems useless in face of a goverment that holds the second place for homophobic crimes in the whole country.

Agustín Negrete is now making public the names of the “authorities” who permitted his torture: Gerardo Dorantes Mora, general secretary of government, Luis Felipe Puente Espinoza, Norma Alejandra Sandoval Márquez, current director of the CAM 33 y 34, Óscar Mañón, chief of the police office, and Óscar Hernández Suárez, public ministry agent.

If you want to know more about this painful case, click here for a radio interview with Estrada Negrete, and here for more information in English.

Much of the information included in this post was taken from an article written by Óscar Daniel Balderas Méndez.

As it always happens in this kind of events, the program features a large list of pundits and journalists, which makes almost impossible to attend to each of the talks. However, there are three lectures that I find extremely interesting, due to its relation with the “hot topics” in Mexico and their certainly annoying exsitence for the Mexican government in the last few years–or, unfortunately,  decades. The first lecture is by one of the best female journalists in Mexico, Sanjuana Martínez, and her work on sexual abuse in the Catholic church. The two others are the notorious feminicidios in Ciudad Juárez, and machismo in Mexico.

Simultaneously, there will be some artistic/performance activities. If you want to take a look at the complete program (in Spanish) you can click here. Entrance is free.

VIII Semana Cultural de la Diversidad Sexual, May 25th-30th, Museo Nacional de Antropología, on Paseo de la Reforma at Gandhi St., phone number 5553-6204 y 5286-1933; semanaculturalsex.inah@gmail.com