Macha Mexico’s (English-language) write-up of the invited performers, panelists, and presenters can be found here.

4o. Festival Lésbico, from November 20th-23th. Centro Cultural Contempo. Plaza del Ángel, Londres 162, 1st. Floor. Free entrance.

UPDATE: Festival schedule posted.

The 4th edition of the Festival Lésbico represents one of the few attempts during the year to gather and celebrate the lesbian community in Mexico City. It is organized by the non-profit organization Fundación Género Diverso, A. C. headed by Martha Cuevas, a veteran lesbian activist who has focused her work on young queer community, sexual education, and combatting domestic violence and violent relationships among lesbians. For a long period of time she worked at the now disappeared Cabaretito VIP as the promoter of Lady’s Night on Thursdays.

One of the goals of Fundación Género Diverso is to promote “a better quality of life” among the queer community through cultural activities that involve artists, politicians, and institutions as well as NGOs related to sexual diversity and sexual education. This time, the festival will be held at the Centro Cultural Contempo located in the Zona Rosa. A formal schedule has not being published yet, but a list of the participants already settled for the Festival is as follows:

LECTURES

Ana Francis Mor. Activist and actress, Mor is a member of Las Reinas Chulas, the cabaret group that manage El Vicio, a little theathre in Coyoacán. Ana Francis Mor, recently married in a symbolic ceremony to her female partner, will talk about theatre, women and diversity issues, based on her own experience.

Enoe Uranga. A veteran activist for the human rights is a former independent member of the Legislative Assembly of the Capital. Her biggest strike was the initiave regarding “Leyes de Convivencia”, the legal figure that assembles to a “gay marriage” in Mexico. Her lecture will be on “Positive political experiences and challenges we face to face”

Paulina Millán. Psychologist and sexologist, Paulina is in charge of the research department at the Instituto Mexicano de Sexología. She hosts the internet radio program “Sexo Abierto”. She is also member of Fundación Género Diverso, where she coordinates the group Nueva Generación de Jóvenes Lesbianas. Her lecture will be on sexuality and eroticism.

Musas de Metal. I know this group because of a couple of parties they organized few years ago. The environment was a little awkward since it seemed that one of the main purposes was to meet someone. But it called my attention that the crowd was pretty diverse, including the whole array of variety in the queer world. The organization has worked on case studies of discrimination and violence against lesbians. Their lecture will be about their experiences and projects.

Fundación Género Diverso A.C. Based on their 11 year-experience, this organization will talk about their campaign against violence among lesbians. The lecture is called “Let’s Make Constructive Relationships”.

LECTURES ON LITERATURE “Literature, creation… and then what?”

Gilda Salinas. Author of short stories, play and film scripts. She teaches workshops on literature and drama. She has written six novels, 22 plays, and three film scripts. She has received many awards due to her work.

Carolina Villanueva (Newvillage). Even though her actual career has to do more with tourism, life lead her to get involved with the world of TV, movies and publicity, where she started working as a script writer.

Odette Alonso. Poet, narrator, and literature promoter. Her short story “Nocturnal Animal” won the literature contest “Mujeres en vida” in 2008. She works as editor at the Dirección General de Publicaciones y Fomento Editorial of the UNAM.

Bertha de la Maza. She is manager of the internet bookstore LesLibros, a very interesting project that aims to distribute queer literature in Mexico (and around the world, I guess) through internet., She is also the distributor of Voces de Tinta, and publishing houses Egales and Topka, as well as of independent writers in Mexico. During 9 years, she has worked as a literature promoter in order to take the LGBT literature out of the closet.

CONAPRED and Dirección General de Igualdad y Diversidad Social del DF.. I still don’t know if representatives of these two institutions will participate at the same lecture, but it seems that they will be part of a space opened to lesbian organizations in order to listen to their proposals. In the case of the second governmental organization, they will describe their activities regarding programs and campaigns addressed to the lesbian community and sexual diversity. Something like a report from the government for the LGBT community.

THEATER

Las Hijas de Safo. We’ve mentioned this group before. This is a great opportunity to see them performing. I have only listened to them from a backstage, but they sounded agile, funny, and neat. Also, as far as I can remember, their make up was great.

Drag King México. They define themselves as the first drag king group in Mexico, which I think is an interesting enough reason to take a look at what they are doing. Their show will be about facing discrimination in Mexican society, especially prepared for this occasion.

Art Draof. They will perform twice. The first play is named “Historias en minutos” which is based on the stories of lesbians of different ages, social backgrounds and experiences. The stories converge to the same point throughout the play, with music as an important element. The second performance of this group is more of a comedy. They will play various famous Mexican singers from the eighties. They themselves say you can’t miss the experience…

SHOWS

Burlesquimeras. Institutrices de Belleza Universal. The first queer Mexican neo-burlesque troupe, the Burlesquimeras use their bodies as means of expression, combining humor, strip-tease, satire, and camp to create a fun and sexy show. The group members are Chichis Glam, Gabina Estrella, Glitter, Islandia, Lupe Tequila, and RiberQueen. What can I say about this show? You will have a blast…!

“Emocional”. by Ana Carolina. A stand-up comedy performed by an Argentinean girl who, if the writing on her blog is any indication, has created a show that is very funny and smart. She gives workshops on stand-up comedy and also works as correspondent for an Argentinean radio station.

“Efimeros Goces e Inés yo con tu amor“. by Artemisa Tellez and Fabiola Jiménez. Based on poetry text by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and other contemporary writers/poets, this literary show fuses music, poetry and lesbian experiences in poignant and funny ways.

LITERATURE
There will be also, readings of lesbian short stories and poetry. Part of the literature activities include the opening of Dos Orillas, a book that compiles short stories and poetry written by lesbians from America (yes, the continent) and Spain.

And last but not least, it seems that the big show will feature Aurora y la Academia, a rock-pop band that was famous during the late nineties in Mexico. The members of the group are three women (now in their thirties) that define their style as “Flower Pop”. Check out their myspace if you want to take a look a t them and listen to a little bit of their music.

4o. Festival Lésbico, from November 20th-23th. Centro Cultural Contempo. Plaza del Ángel, Londres 162, 1st. Floor. Free entrance.

June 28th marks Mexico City’s 30th annual gay pride march (and my first “pride” in Mexico City).

The march starts at the Angel de Independencia in the Zona Rosa and ends at the Zócalo, where free musical and theatrical performances will take place on the main stage. These shows were coordinated by lesbian activist Martha Cuevas. A full description of artistic events can be found (in Spanish) at http://eventoslgbt.blogspot.com/. The schedule is tentative, and I will update this post as I know more.

2:15–Avenida Q

Excerpts from the Mexican production of the hit musical, Avenue Q, currently staring openly gay former Rebelde member, Christian Chávez. I’m ashamed to say I’ve never seen the English or Spanish versions of this show, though I hear it’s fabulous.

2:30–Grupo Destino

2:45–Hijas de Safo (Saffo’s Daughters)

This trio of lady performers do a very campy song and dance routine, each parodying a lesbian or Mexican architype (a machota in a leather jacket, a cowgirl, Adelita…). The photo below does not do their live performance justice. For those who don’t speak Spanish, a lot of the jokes go by very quickly, but the visual theatricality is charming, even for those who can’t keep up. (I include myself in that last category.)

3:00–Foreños

I know nothing about this group, except what I read on the pride events blog (link above) and from their own website, but Foreños appears to be a gay, rachero boy band. Need I say more?

3:15–Las Reinas Chulas

This group of lesbian performers are based out of the Coyoacán performance venue El Vicio (formerly El Hábito). I have been meaning to go to one of their shows for the past two years, and shame on me for not yet doing so. I’ve only heard good things.

3:30–Regina Orozco

This comic singer is a gay icon in Mexico. Think Bette Midler, but with opera.

3:45–Oracio Franco

4:00–This time slot is reserved for “political discourse” which involves inviting gay activists and political figures to the stage. As of yet, no specific names have been offered.

4:15–Raquel Bigorra

4:30–Tito Vasconcelos

This gay actor and activist is a bit of a Mexico City legend. In addition to having a long career as an actor, perform, and theater teacher, Tito Vasconcelos is the entrepeneur behind the successful Cabaretito chain of gay clubs. Not only have his clubs been hard by the recent gentrification of the Zona Rosa, but Vasconcelos himself was arrested for trumped up charges, punishment for not playing along with police and city officials.

4:45–Sissa

I can’t seem to find a website for this performer, a drag artist and “sophisticated androgine” who has appeared in Rent (I’m assuming the Mexican production) and other musicals and dance performances. Anyone know more information?

5:05–Astrid Hadad

Another living legend. Her website gives this musician and performance artist a good taste of her style. (Also, I was fascinated by the design of her website.)

5:30–Susana Zabaleta

This rock singer will be crowned “queen” of this year’s pride celebration.

5:45–Ari Borovoy

6:00–Amandititita

Amandititita is a player in the current wave of what I would call Mexican electroclash (think Casio beats with more traditional Mexican instruments layered in, with rapping/shouting/singing vocals delivering bratty vocals on top of that). I have never seen her, but hear she puts on a good show.

Footage of the backstage of last year’s pride stage is posted below:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEWi4o7kn6E&hl=en]