Are gays, lesbians and others in the LGBT community accepted in Mexico?

The acceptance of the LGBT community differs from one part of Mexico to another. In Mexico City, the acceptance of LGBT is advanced. They recently had a gay parade at the city center where they also changed the color of the fountain pink.
 
Here in Oaxaca City, since it is a traditional city, the LGBT community is slowly being accepted. You will see more gay people in the city center but the traditional families still find it difficult to see their daughter or son walking hand in...

The acceptance of the LGBT community differs from one part of Mexico to another. In Mexico City, the acceptance of LGBT is advanced. They recently had a gay parade at the city center where they also changed the color of the fountain pink.
 
Here in Oaxaca City, since it is a traditional city, the LGBT community is slowly being accepted. You will see more gay people in the city center but the traditional families still find it difficult to see their daughter or son walking hand in hand with someone of the same sex, but in general, the LGBT community is much more accepted now than before. If you are gay or lesbian, and you move to Oaxaca, you will have a good time living here without any discrimination. But if you come from a Mexican family, your family might still find it difficult to accept.  

 

(Men wearing a feminine mask and wigs and dressing as women for a party in Oaxaca, Mexico, pictured.)

Mexico is pretty open-minded even though it’s Catholic and quite religious in some aspects. I’m not part of the LGBT community, so I don’t have any personal experiences to draw from but from what I see and among my friends, colleagues, the magazines, and the media I don’t see any type prejudice specifically against the gay or lesbian community.
 
I believe that there are even a lot of vacation packages that are LGBT friendly. Especially in Mexico City, in...

Mexico is pretty open-minded even though it’s Catholic and quite religious in some aspects. I’m not part of the LGBT community, so I don’t have any personal experiences to draw from but from what I see and among my friends, colleagues, the magazines, and the media I don’t see any type prejudice specifically against the gay or lesbian community.
 
I believe that there are even a lot of vacation packages that are LGBT friendly. Especially in Mexico City, in the bigger areas, it’s pretty wide open.  They have their own community and they’re doing fine.

 

(Gay Mexican soccer team, pictured.)

YES AND YES,, Mexico has accepted as a culture and as a country gays and gay rights.

 

Many cities in Mexico have vibrant gay communities Merida Yuactan, Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, Playa Del Carmen  just to name a few.

Also Gay, transgender, lesbians ETC, has always been part of Mexico culture and indigenous history.

 

For example the MUXE of OAXACA

 

 In contrast to...

YES AND YES,, Mexico has accepted as a culture and as a country gays and gay rights.

 

Many cities in Mexico have vibrant gay communities Merida Yuactan, Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, Playa Del Carmen  just to name a few.

Also Gay, transgender, lesbians ETC, has always been part of Mexico culture and indigenous history.

 

For example the MUXE of OAXACA

 

 In contrast to Mexico's majority mestizo culture, the isthmus of Oaxaca has a predominantly Zapotec population, and it is widely reported that there is less hostility toward muxe in the region than homosexual, effeminate males and Trans women face in other regions of the country. One study estimates that 6 percent of males in an Isthmus Zapotec community in the early 1970s were MUXE. Other Zapotec communities have similar "third gender" roles, such as the biza ah of Teotilan del valle

Muxe may be vestidas (wearing female clothes) or pintadas (wearing male clothes and make-up). It has been suggested that while the three gender system predates Spanish colonization, the phenomenon of muxe dressing as women is fairly recent, beginning in the 1950s and gaining popularity until nearly all of the younger generation of muxe today are vestidas.

Within contemporary Zapotec culture, reports vary as to their social status. Muxe in village communities may not be disparaged and highly respected, while in larger, more Westernised towns they may face some discrimination, especially from men due to homophobic attitudes introduced by Catholicism and European colonisation. Muxe generally belong to the poorer classes of society. Gender variance and same-sex desire in wealthier communities of the region are more likely to follow a more western taxonomy of gay, bisexual and transgender. Such individuals are also more likely to remain in THE CLOSET  Despite this, Muxe have traditionally been considered good luck, worth more than ci sgender women and many now have white-collar jobs or are involved in politics.

In an article published in 1995, anthropologist Beverly china explains that in the Zapotec culture, "the idea of choosing gender or of sexual orientation is as ludicrous as suggesting that one can choose one's skin color."Most people traditionally view their gender as something God has given them (whether man, woman, or muxe), and few muxe desire genital surgery. They generally do not suffer from gender dysphoria because transphobia is a rare attitude in their culture, people are generally accepting of them and they usually have their gender recognised through their clothing, there is not as much pressure to "pass" as in Western societies.

Lynn Stephen writes: "Muxe men are not referred to as “homosexuals” but constitute a separate category based on gender attributes. People perceive them as having the physical bodies of men but different aesthetic, work, and social skills from most men. They may have some attributes of women or combine those of men and women." If they do choose men as sexual partners, neither are those men (known as mayate) necessarily considered homosexual

Mexico City is without doubt on the leading edge of advancing LGBT rights!  Mexico City is its own state, the Distrito Federal (just like Washington DC), and has been enacting laws to protect and support its LGBT community for many years.  Same-sex couples have been able to adopt children and form civil unions in DF for some time - more recently, marriage has become available to same-sex couples as well.  Transgender people have been able to legally change...

Mexico City is without doubt on the leading edge of advancing LGBT rights!  Mexico City is its own state, the Distrito Federal (just like Washington DC), and has been enacting laws to protect and support its LGBT community for many years.  Same-sex couples have been able to adopt children and form civil unions in DF for some time - more recently, marriage has become available to same-sex couples as well.  Transgender people have been able to legally change their gender for about 10 years, and recently an amendment to the law made it possible to change gender without requiring medical documentation or psychological evaluation.  Additionally, the government of DF (Distrito Federal; Mexico City) runs a number of programs to support LGBT communities and promote awareness.  The Zona Rosa neighborhood is perhaps the most famous "gay zone" in the city, and is the hub of the LGBT and LGBT-friendly business and cultural community.  The annual Pride Parade is massive and not to be missed!

 

That said, Mexico remains a conservative country more generally, and the protections that the LGBT community has in DF are not always available in other areas, especially outside of larger cities.  There have been instances in the past few years of same-sex couples being denied the right to marry even in states where it is legal.  The good news is that recently the Supreme Court upheld the rights of same-sex couples by redefining "marriage" to include the possibility of same-sex unions.  In Mexico, as in the rest of the world, attitudes will - and are - changing!

 

(Marchers at the 2009 Gay Pride Parade, Zona Rosa, Mexico City, Mexico, pictured.)

 

 

Yes and Yes!

 

Mexico overall has a gay community.   In the Yucatan Peninsula, Merida, Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum have gay expats as well as locals.  They have a vibrant and very open community and acceptance from the locals.

 

 

(Gay march in Cancun, pictured.)

Yes and Yes!

 

Mexico overall has a gay community.   In the Yucatan Peninsula, Merida, Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum have gay expats as well as locals.  They have a vibrant and very open community and acceptance from the locals.

 

 

(Gay march in Cancun, pictured.)

I want to start from local and then we’ll go from there.

 

Ajijic is recognized as a lesbian and gay community. There are a lot of gays and lesbians in Ajijic. There is a lot of acceptance in Ajijic because gays, transvestites, and transsexuals walk in Ajijic in their local areas. So there’s not a lot of discrimination unless they pursue a straight person, in which case maybe the local people sometimes can be aggressive. But as long as any lesbian or any...

I want to start from local and then we’ll go from there.

 

Ajijic is recognized as a lesbian and gay community. There are a lot of gays and lesbians in Ajijic. There is a lot of acceptance in Ajijic because gays, transvestites, and transsexuals walk in Ajijic in their local areas. So there’s not a lot of discrimination unless they pursue a straight person, in which case maybe the local people sometimes can be aggressive. But as long as any lesbian or any gay do not try to have a date with a person that they don’t know there is not aggressiveness. Other than that, in Ajijic it’s very, very respectful. 

 

Around the lake they say that Ajijic is the capital of the gay and the lesbian community.  This is true not only of the foreigners but a lot of natives from other towns around the lake.  Sometimes there are jokes among the local people around the lake that we say that we import a lot of gays in Ajijic. 

 

Chapala is more conservative and not as open as in Ajijic. In Ajijic you see transvestites. There is even a contest for the Gay Queen for Ajijic and when it’s the Carnival, you can see in the parade a lot of gays who dress like a woman or lesbians. So it’s very, very open. If you go to Jocotepec or the other towns, they are more conservative; it’s not as open as in Ajijic.

 

Talking about Mexico, there was a lot of criticism because the federal government had approved a law that gays and lesbians can get married. 

 

One of the biggest gay and lesbian parades is in Guadalajara. It’s really huge in Mexico. There is another in Mexico City that is big but the most representative is in Guadalajara. Guadalajara is known in all Mexico to be the capital of the gay and lesbians, too. There are a lot of gay bars and lesbian bars. A lot of restaurants are specific for that market. There is a lot of nightlife for that market too.

 

Little by little Mexico is getting more respectful but, of course, there are different opinions. My suggestion is for any gay or lesbian, if they don’t know what is the preference of the person, do not pursue.  Make sure that the other person is also gay or lesbian because some Mexicans can be very aggressive. There is kind of like a cultural thing that we have in Mexico: you don’t mess with me, I don’t mess with you. That is a good tip to avoid conflict or a fight.  

 

The rest of Mexico more conservative. The state of Jalisco is known within Mexico as having the most gays and lesbians of any of the others states within Mexico, not that most of the people are gay. 

 

Besides Mexico City, Guadalajara, Vallarta, and Ajijic are the three places where there is more acceptance.  The majority of the concentration of gays and lesbians comes to Guadalajara because there is more acceptance and they come from other states where it’s more difficult for them to be free. In Guadalajara sometimes you can see gays or lesbians kissing.

 

(Pictured: 1949 painting by German-Mexican gay artist Linares-- Ernesto Butterlin-- Ajijic, Mexico.)

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