Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo has said that rainbow crossings in the city – vandalised twice in one week with homophobic graffiti – will be made permanent.
The Pride-themed crossings were installed for Paris Pride, Marche des Fiertés, at the end of June.
However, the rainbow additions were targeted by vandals twice in one week – on June 25 and June 28 – who covered them with paint and scrawled homophobic messages, including “LGBT get out of France” and “LGBT dictatorship.”
The vandalism was promptly cleaned up and widely condemned, including by mayor Hidalgo.“Paris is a safe haven that embraces the republican values of freedom, equality and fraternity,” she wrote on Twitter.
“For they fall forever in its walls, crosswalks rainbow sky created for #MarcheFesFiertés will be permanent!”
(Anne_Hidalgo/Twitter)
The unidentified vandals also wrote “Hidalgo dégage” on one of the crossings, which translates to “Hidalgo get out,” in a direct message to the mayor.
One Paris resident had posted photos of the vandalised crossings to Twitter, adding: “These homophobic tags are a reflection of all the discrimination and violence faced by LGBTQIs everywhere in France and in the world, we will fight them relentlessly.”
Mayor Hidalgo had earlier responded to the vandalism, tweeting: “Last night the rainbow crosswalk in Marais has been vandalized again. This act of homophobia won’t go unpunished.
“The Prosecutor of the Republic will be seized. The municipal agents will clean up this morning.”
She also posted a video to Twitter of graffiti being removed from a rainbow crossing using a jet-wash.
Hidalgo added: “Thanks to the agents of the City of Paris, already on the ground to once again clean the rainbow pedestrian crossings of the Marais.”
The second time the crossings were vandalised. (Christine Rougemont / Facebook)
Many prominent LGBT people and allies also condemned the repeated vandalism.
Following the first incident, openly gay Deputy Mayor Bruno Julliard said: “The homophobic degradation of our city’s rainbow decorations is unacceptable.
“This new manifestation of hideous hatred will only strengthen our determination to fight against discrimination without fail.”
Out politician Jean-Luc Romero added: “Anti-LGBTQI hatred struck at the heart of Paris. Our answer is Saturday, when hundreds of thousands of people will parade for the Pride Walk!”
This move has been welcomed by many in Paris’ LGBT community, with one person writing: “After this vandalism, I expect Hidalgo to repaint all pedestrian crossings in Paris the colours of the rainbow.”
Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Sunday became Mexico’s first leftist president in decades, winning in a landslide victory with more than 50 percent of the vote.López Obrador — commonly known by his initials AMLO — has a long history in politics. He was Mexico City’s mayor from 2000 to 2005, and he ran (and lost) in the two previous presidential elections. A member of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), López Obrador ran on an anti-corruption platform and a narrative of social change centered around eradicating poverty. His win represents a clear rejection of the status quo and political establishment and a desire for widespread change.
Gaby Soberanis, president of Diversidad Guerrero in Acapulco, said she hopes the changes brought about by his election and presidency are “for good,” and that he’s able to combat the country’s systemic “violence” and “insecurity” through “alliances, programs and public policies in favor of the collective.”
Current President Enrique Peña Nieto is one of the country’s most unpopular leaders in decades, with an administration characterized by scandal and inadequacy in combating crime and violence. According to the Mexican Interior Ministry, nearly 30,000 people were killed last year in the country, making it the worst year on record for homicides.
Mexican President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador (Photo by ProtoplasmaKid via Wikimedia Commons)
Peña Nieto was a member of the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which has ruled Mexico for most of the last century. José Antonio Meade, the PRI candidate in this year’s election, finished in third place behind López Obrador and Ricardo Anaya, a center-right politician.
López Obrador has already begun breaking from previous presidents; in his Sunday victory speech, he said, “the state will represent all Mexicans…from all points of view and sexual preferences.”
According to Karolyna Pollorena, an LGBT activist in Mexicali, López Obrador is the first president-elect in the country’s history to specifically mention the LGBTI community in his victory speech. She also said López Obrador will have a more diverse cabinet than previous administrations and more progressive representatives across various government sectors.
“With it [the administration] and the help of the Mexican LGBTTTI+ Coalition, we hope that this new government can help legalize marriage equality in the states where it’s lacking in Mexico and also move forward on issues of legislation that have (stalled) in past governments,” Pollorena said.
Despite his remarks in his victory speech, López Obrador did not campaign explicitly as an advocate for LGBT rights or marriage equality, and he dodged questions on the campaign trail regarding such issues. His electoral coalition also includes the Social Encounter Party (PES), which was founded by evangelical Christians and has opposed previous efforts to federally legalize same-sex marriage.
Given these factors, Alex Ali Méndez Díaz — a lawyer spearheading same-sex marriage efforts in Mexico — said LGBTI advocacy will remain principally centered in civil society.
“It is up to civil society to continue working to make our voices heard and to defend ourselves against any attempt at invisibilization and/or regression,” Méndez Díaz said.
Pollorena echoed Méndez Díaz’s belief that Mexican citizens are the key to progress and should be engaged and active under the new administration, saying “it is now important to invite citizens to get involved and demand that campaign promises be fulfilled when the new administration begins.”
The government will appoint a national LGBT health adviser and take measures to end so-called conversion therapy as part of a plan to deliver what Theresa May has promised will be “real and lasting change”.
The proposals form part of an action plan published by the Equalities Office on Tuesday. It follows a UK-wide survey of LGBT people that had more than 108,000 responses, billed as the largest study of its kind.
The 30-page plan contains a series of pledges, including to improve the police response to LGBT hate incidents, more support for LGBT students and teachers and improvements to gender identity services for transgender adults.
The proposals, which will receive an initial £4.5m in funding, were welcomed by the campaign groups Stonewall and the LGBT Foundation.
Ruth Hunt, Stonewall’s chief executive, said she was “really pleased that the government is listening to the thousands upon thousands of LGBT people who responded to this survey”.
The online poll, which ran from July to October last year, sought views from LGBT and intersex people about their personal experiences and interactions with public services.
Of those with a minority sexual orientation, 68% said they had avoided holding hands in public with a same-sex partner, while 70% said they had at times not been open about their sexual orientation.
In comments released with the plan, the prime minister said the survey had highlighted where more efforts were needed.
“I was struck by just how many respondents said they cannot be open about their sexual orientation or avoid holding hands with their partner in public for fear of a negative reaction,” May said.
“No one should ever have to hide who they are or who they love. [The plan will] set out concrete steps to deliver real and lasting change across society.”
The survey found 5% of respondents had been offered and refused types of conversion therapy – discredited techniques often based around religious views that seek to change people’s sexual orientation. Another 2% had undergone such processes.
The plan promises to end these practices, with the Equalities Office to look into various legislative or non-legislative ways to do so.
The techniques, sometimes called “cure” therapies, are based on the idea that being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender is a mental complaint that can be reversed. They are often modelled on mainstream methods of psychotherapy, and sometimes prayer, and are known to be harmful.
All the major UK regulatory bodies for counselling and psychotherapy have banned members from using such methods, as has the NHS. However, a 2015 study by Stonewall found 10% of health and care staff had heard colleagues express the belief that sexuality can be “cured”.
One man who underwent such a process and then took part in sessions to “cure” him said the experience left him suicidal. He told ITV News he underwent a combination of confession and prayers, supposedly to rid him of a gay “demon”.
He then took part in sessions for others, but became depressed and prayed to die. “I wanted God to remove me from the world to lessen my suffering and to lessen the suffering of those around me,” he said.
“At the time I believed this was a demon being cast out of me. And I remember the next day waking up and thinking, I don’t really know what that means now. Does it mean I’m a straight man now? Is that demon gone? Did that demon really exist?”
The survey also found 26% of respondents had experienced verbal harassment or other insults in the past year, with many saying they did not report even more serious incidents to the police. New measures to improve the police’s response to such incidents will be proposed.
Penny Mordaunt, the minister for women and equalities, said: “Our action plan is a step towards everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or sex characteristics, being able to live safe, happy and healthy lives where they can be themselves without fear of discrimination.”
May is to host the annual Downing Street LGBT Pride reception on Tuesday evening. Among the guests for the first time will be Peter Tatchell. The veteran campaigner said May had invited him after he was “banned” previously.
In a separate statement, Tatchell called the action plan a “welcome start”, but said it fell short on issues such as the deportation of LGBT refugees to countries where homophobia was widespread. The £4.5m budget was “derisory and insulting”, he added.
Paul Martin, the chief executive of the LGBT Foundation, said his organisation had worked with the Equalities Office on the survey and he was “delighted that the government has listened”.
The study and announcement are separate to government plans to amend the 2004 Gender Recognition Act, making the process by which transgender people can change their legal gender easier. A consultation on this is to begin soon.
Mordaunt said she had been struck by the survey showing how poorly served transgender people in Britain were by existing systems and legislations, saying the government would examine how to best speed up and demedicalise the process of changing gender.
She said the launch of the consultation was not a delaying tactic. “We want to make it less bureaucratic, more supportive and less intrusive,” she said.
Asked if there should be less emphasis on medical intervention, Mordaunt told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think that is absolutely right, we already require people to live in their new gender for two years, that is causing all kinds of difficulty and anxiety for people who may have two sets of identity documents … which causes huge problems accessing public services,” she said.
Mordaunt said she would also listen to the concerns of some women who have expressed fears that simplifying the process of changing gender could lead to the abuse of female-only spaces, such as domestic violence refuges.
“What we are not going to do is unpick the Equalities Act, which protects women-only spaces like refuges for example, we are not going to unpick those safeguards,” Mordaunt said.
“Those women raising those concerns are legitimate concerns that we need to address at the end of the consultation but equally legitimate are the concerns of individuals changing their gender and at the moment are having to make all kinds of strategies to do simple things like use the bathroom or go to the gym. We have to look at this and have a sensible conversation.”
In a historic and festive celebration, Swaziland held its first-ever LGBT pride parade over the weekend.
Hundreds of people marched down the streets of the capital Mbabane waving rainbow flags and holding signs that read, “Turn hate into love” — a scene almost unimaginable not so long ago.
The small southern African country, recently renamed the Kingdom of eSwatini by its king, is Africa’s last absolute monarchy and has a bleak record on LGBT rights. The country of 1.4 million also has the world’s highest HIV/AIDS rates and suffers from severe poverty.
Saturday’s parade was organized by the Rock of Hope, a local nonprofit, and supported by international LGBT advocacy organizations.
“This is a small country, an absolute monarchy that makes same sex love illegal and is not often on the radar of the international community and media,” said Matt Beard, Executive Director of the advocacy group All Out, in a Medium post. All Out helped fund and promote the parade, which featured well-known Swazi musicians and artists.
“At certain moments during the parade, the infectious joy of this community was so intense, it was difficult to hold back the tears,” Beard added.
The pride parade was also supported by Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest LGBT rights group in the United States.
Swaziland was part of HRC’s Global Partnerships in Pride program, which supports LGBT communities abroad and emphasizes international solidarity.
Marchers in Swaziland’s first-ever pride parade in Mbabane.
In Swaziland, same-sex relationships are illegal and the country maintains a colonial-era law against sodomy. The US State Department’s report on global human rights practices in 2017 stated that Swazi people open about their sexual orientation “faced censure and exclusion from the chiefdom-based patronage system.”
The pride celebration was not endorsed by King Mswati III.
Nonetheless, the parade marks a major milestone for Swaziland’s LGBT community and brings June’s pride month celebrations to a new part of the world.
Saturday’s celebration in Mbabane was held the day before hundreds of people defied a Turkish government ban to take part in a Pride Parade in Istanbul before being dispersed by police.
The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has upheld President Donald Trump’s travel ban, in a landmark decision which has been announced on the third anniversary of the SCOTUS decision to allow same-sex marriage.
The ban is a major victory in the administration’s mission to restrict the number of immigrants and visitors into the United States.
However the ruling marks a distinct change from the same day in 2015, when the Court voted for marriage equality rights. Critics say the latest Court ruling will dangerously impact the LGBT community.
In a 5-4 decision, the judges confirmed the president’s powers over matters of national security.The ban levels a range of restrictions against five majority-Muslim countries – Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. But there’s also travel restrictions on North Korea and Venezuela.
Human rights defenders have attacked the decision and highlighted how the LGBT community will be impacted by the SCOTUS decision.
In a podcast discussing Trump’s third order of the ban, LeGaL’s (a New York LGBT group of lawyers) Executive Director Eric Lesh said: “Trump’s travel ban is dangerous particularly for members of the LGBTQ community. In addition seven of the eight countries that have been targeted by Trump’s ban, explicitly criminalise homosexual conduct, some of them authorise or even mandate a death penalty for such offences.”
While Human Right’s First’s Shawn Gaylord spoke about the impact of the ban on queer and trans communities, in 2017: “Barring LGBT people from these seven countries creates an additional burden and makes them increasingly under threat to violent acts,” he said.
“LGBT refugees already face heightened risks based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. They are vulnerable to violence during the entire resettlement process and may have additional challenges as they adjust to their new lives after resettlement,” Gaylord added.
CEO Rachel B. Tiven said: “As a queer woman and a Jew, I am outraged and frightened. The LGBT community knows what it’s like to be red meat for a demagogue’s base. Future generations will ask us what we did to object. We stand in solidarity with our Muslim family – straight and gay – and pledge our continued support to fight the ban and the stigma, discrimination, and violence it helps encourage.”
Deputy legal director with the American Civil Liberties Union, Cecillia Wang, tweeted that the decision marked “a dreadful day” for the United States. “But we Americans will fight on to express the will of the people to uphold equality and freedom,” she wrote.
The travel ban’s history began in December 2015, when Trump called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on,” during his Presidential campaign.
During his first week in office Trump signed the executive order to ban people from seven Muslim-majority countries. The Supreme Court halted enforcements of most of the ban, until March 2017 when Trump issued a “watered down” second order. The Supreme Court allowed the second order to go into effect in part.
But in September Trump issued a third ban with more changes. After challenges, the Supreme Court allowed this version to go into effect while appeals were heard.
Another historic royal wedding is set to take place this summer – the family’s first same-sex nuptials.
Lord Ivar Mountbatten, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, first made history when he announced he was gay in 2016 and became the first member of the royal family to do so.
Following his announcement, Lord Mountbatten revealed he was in a relationship with James Coyle, who he will marry during the summer.
The wedding will be made even more special because Lord Mountbatten’s ex-wife will play a special part in the ceremony, it was revealed at the weekend.
Penny, with whom Lord Mountbatten has three daughters, told the Daily Mail she will be the one walking her ex-husband down the aisle.
“It was the girls’ idea,” she said. “It makes me feel quite emotional. I’m really very touched.”
Lord Mountbatten’s first royal wedding, which he referred to as “the best day of my life,” was attended by the Queen’s youngest son, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, who have extended their blessing to the happy couple.
Speaking to the Mail, Lord Mountbatten said his royal relatives know of the plans and are “really excited for us.”
“Sadly they can’t come to the wedding. Their diaries are arranged months in advance and they’re not around, but they adore James. Everyone adores him,” he told the newspaper.
As for the plans for the big day, James revealed that the ceremony, taking place in the private chapel on Lord Mountbatten’s estate in Devon, will be small and intimate, with just close friends and family in attendance followed by a bigger reception of 120 guests.
Of the couple’s decision to marry and have a wedding, Lord Mountbatten said he wants to do it for his partner.
“For me, what’s interesting is I don’t need to get married because I’ve been there, done that and have my wonderful children; but I’m pushing it because I think it’s important for him,” Lord Mountbatten said. “James hasn’t had the stable life I have. I want to be able to give you that.”
Although the Queen has not commented on her cousin’s upcoming nuptials, she has previously made statements in support of LGBT rights. During her speech at the State Opening of Parliament in 2017, she said: “My government will make further progress to tackle the gender pay gap and discrimination against people on the basis of their race, faith, gender, disability, or sexual orientation.”
On May 19 2018, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, made history when she married Prince Harry and became the first mixed-race woman to marry into the British royal family.
The proceeds from the T-shirt will go to an LGBTQ health centre (Mother/screengrab)
Gay employees at the creative company Mother have created a T-shirt printed using their blood to protest the gay blood donation ban in the US.
The company, which has offices in New York and London, launched the Blood is Blood T-shirt to highlight the discrimination LGBT people face when donating blood.
The front of the T-shirt reads: “This shirt is printed with the blood of gay men.”
On the back, a longer piece of text states the US Food and Drug Administration’s current guidelines for donating blood are “outdated” and propagate stigma.
The T-shirts will be sold at gender-neutral retailer The Phluid Project, with proceeds going to Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, a LGBTQ service provider in New York.
The T-shirt protests the gay blood donation ban (Mother)
The ink for the shirt was created by British artist Stuart Semple.
It was launched for Pride month and World Blood Donor Day.
Under US federal law, men who have sex with men (MSM) cannot give blood for 12 months from their last sexual encounter.
The law came into effect in 2015, when the FDA overturned a lifetime ban on accepting blood donations from MSM, which was introduced in 1983 during the AIDS epidemic.
The Blood is Blood website reads: “Due to the stigma of another era, members of the community can’t be proud of their own blood. The Food and Drug Administration claims that the blood of men who have had sex with men in the last 12 months is ‘too risky’ to donate.”
“Instead of making the call based on real risk-factors, the regulation discriminations based on sexual orientation.”
“If the FDA changed its risk-assessment, it is estimated that an additional 360,600 men would likely donate 615,300 additional pints of blood each year, possibly saving the lives of more than 1.8 million people.”
Gay men will be allowed to give blood three months after having sex, rather than a year, as per the previous guidelines.
Dr Gail Miflin, medical and research director at NHS Blood and Transplant, said the change was based on the latest available medical and scientific evidence.
“We have one of the safest blood supplies in the world. Anyone may require a blood transfusion in the future and so it’s in all our interests to ensure that we work hard to keep blood safe for patients,” Miflin said.
“This starts with selection of donors before they give blood. Everyone must answer questions on their health and lifestyle before they donate and answering these questions correctly is crucial, in order to keep blood safe.”
A leading lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender refugee organisation is rallying to ask Canada to invite more LGBT+ asylum seekers into the country.
Rainbow Railroad, an organisation in Canada, saved the lives of 206 LGBT+ asylum claimants in 2017.
After working with some of the most vulnerable claimants on record, the charity wants the Canadian government to step up and save more lives.
Rainbow Railroad’s size is ever-increasing. They helped 206 Canadian refugees to safety in 2017 (Rainbow Railroad)
“It’s fitting that World Refugee Day falls during Pride Month,” said Rainbow Road executive director Kimahli Powell.
“LGBTQI asylum seekers are often forced to flee their home, family and country because of who they are and who they love.”
Rainbow Railroad has helped 450 LGBTQI people in dangerous situations find safety since it was founded in 2006.
“This is a chance to put the spotlight on the global refugee crisis, and remember that LGBTQI refugees are particularly vulnerable to violence and abuse,” said Powell in a statement.
In 72 countries, queer and trans people can face criminal charges under colonial-era anti-gay laws that can result in life in prison, according to ILGA’s 2017 report.
As the case of Bruce McArthur proves, the spotlight is on Canada to provide as much support and safety for refugees as possible.
The suspected serial killer was said to have targeted vulnerable asylum claimants who had moved over to the country to start a new life.
Queer Sri Lankan asylum claimant Skandaraj Navaratnam, gay Aghanistani Majeed Kayhan and gay Turkish man Selim Esen are just a few of the LGBT+ men allegedly targeted by McArthur.
Bisexual asylum applicants also face particular difficulties in securing residency in the nation.
Researcher Sean Rehagg found that bisexual applicants made up 7 percent of the claims, and the success rate of bisexual applicants was 25 percent, while LGBT+ applicants that identified other than bisexual had a 49 percent success rate.
Ireland is to issue an apology for historical persecution under anti-gay laws.
The Republic of Ireland only decriminalised homosexuality in 1993, five years after its archaic sodomy law was found to be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Prior to decriminalisation, laws dating from the nineteenth century made “buggery” an offence punishable by imprisonment, and gay men in the country lives under a culture of fear.
In a poignant move today, the government of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is set to issue an apology to men who were persecuted under the laws.
The move has a particular resonance as Varadkar is the country’s first openly gay leader, taking office in June 2017.
Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (Charles McQuillan/Getty)
The leader is expected to give a speech before the Dáil today on a Labour Party motion on the issue, tabled by Senator Ged Nash.
The motion is supported across parties.
Nash told HotPress: “This historic motion represents an important reckoning with our past. The State inherited draconian laws we applied over many decades to persecute and prosecute gay men merely for being who they were.
“It took until 1993 for Irish law makers to show the moral courage to banish these cruel, antiquated and inhumane laws from our statute books.
“Apart altogether from those who were convicted of offences that no longer exist, the chilling effect of having such harsh and discriminatory laws in place had a negative impact on progress towards equality for the LGBTI community.
“Incalculable harm and hurt was caused to countless thousands of citizens of this Republic who were deterred by those laws from being open and honest about their identity with themselves, their family and with society.
“This prevented citizens from engaging fully in civic and political life and deprived society of their full contribution. They were badly wronged by this country, and they and their families are owed an apology.
“I look forward to this powerful statement being made in both Houses of the Oireachtas next Tuesday and I am hopeful that support will be garnered from across the political spectrum.”
Nash added: “The Labour Party is continuing to work with government to identify ways in which convictions received by men for engaging in sexual activities which are no longer offences can be set aside or disregarded in a legally secure manner.
“As a country, we have made very significant progress on LGBT rights in recent years. However, we still have some way to go before we achieve full equality for LGBTI citizens in Ireland.”
“This motion also represents an opportunity for the Oireachtas to unite to affirm that Ireland should be a country where all LGBTI citizens are free to fully express their identities without fear, prejudice or discrimination and that we put global LGBTI rights at the very centre of our foreign policy.”
Three well-known LGBTI rights advocates in the Mexican state of Guerrero were killed over the weekend.Authorities on Sunday found the bodies of Rubén Estrada, Roberto Vega and Carlos Uriel López in Taxco, a city between the state capital of Chilpancingo and Mexico City that is popular with tourists.
Estrada, 35, was the main organizer of Taxco’s annual Pride march and a local gay beauty contest. Vega and López, who was his partner, were also activists.
Gaby Soberanis, president of Diversidad Guerrero, an LGBTI advocacy group that is based in the resort city of Acapulco, on Monday told the Washington Blade during a telephone interview that Estrada, Vega and López were at a local nightclub early Sunday morning when a group of men tried to extort money from them.
Soberanis said Estrada, Vega and López refused to give them any money. She told the Blade the men returned, forcibly removed them from the nightclub and placed them into a van.
Authorities found their bodies a few hours later on a dirt road near the main highway between Mexico City and Acapulco.
A local newspaper published a picture of one of the murdered activists who appeared to have been shot in the back of the head. Another local media report indicates Estrada, Vega and López had been tortured before they were killed.
“We are sad, depressed,” Soberanis told the Blade. “They were young. They had a future ahead of them. The entire state’s LGBTI rights movement is sad, is in mourning.”
Other activists across Mexico also mourned their deaths.
“The loss is for a society that demands equality, freedom and an end to violence,” said Lol Kin Castañeda, a lesbian activist who is a member of the Mexico City Constituent Assembly in a tweet that tagged Guerrero Gov. Héctor Astudillo. “We demand justice.”
Local media reports say the manner in which Estrada, Vega and López were killed indicates they were victims of criminal gangs that operate throughout Guerrero.
“I don’t know if it was a hate crime based on homophobia,” Soberanis told the Blade.
The Blade has reached out to the Guerrero Ministry of Public Safety for comment.
Violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity remains commonplace throughout Mexico.
Drug cartels and criminal gangs that operate throughout Guerrero have made it one of the most violent states in the country. An advisory the State Department issued on March 16 urges U.S. citizens not to travel to Guerrero and the states of Colima, Michoacán, Sinaloa and Tamaulipas “due to crime.”
A group of 43 college students known as “normalistas” disappeared in Iguala, a city that is roughly an hour south of Taxco in Guerrero, on Sept. 26, 2014.
From left: Rubén Estrada, Roberto Vega and Carlos Uriel López were murdered in Taxco, Mexico, on June 17, 2018. An activist in the state of Guerrero with whom the Washington Blade spoke said Estrada, Vega and López were killed after a group of men tried to extort money from them at a local nightclub. (Photo courtesy of Gaby Soberanis/Diversidad Guerrero)
Mexican authorities have accused former Iguala Mayor José Luis Abarca and his wife, María de los Ángeles Pineda, of masterminding the kidnapping. The Associated Press reports Abarca allegedly ordered local police officers to turn the students over to members of a local criminal group who killed them.
The election to choose the successor to President Enrique Peña Nieto, who cannot run for a second term under the Mexican constitution, will take place on July 1. Violence and corruption are among the top issues for Mexican voters.
Tres conocidos activistas LGBTI asesinados en Guerrero
Tres conocidos activistas LGBTI en el estado mexicano de Guerrero fueron asesinados durante el fin de semana.
Autoridades el domingo descubrieron los cadáveres de Rubén Estrada, Roberto Vega y Carlos Uriel López en Taxco, una ciudad entre la capital estatal de Chilpancingo y la Ciudad de México que es popular con turistas.
Estrada, 35, era el principal organizador de la marcha anual del Orgullo de Taxco y un concurso de belleza gay local. Vega y López, quién era su pareja, también eran activistas.
Gaby Soberanis, presidenta de Diversidad Guerrero, un grupo LGBTI basado en Acapulco, el lunes dijo al Washington Blade durante una entrevista que Estrada, Vega y López estaban a una discoteca local temprano el domingo por la mañana cuando un grupo de hombres trató de extorcionar el dinero de ellos.
Soberanis dijo que Estrada, Vega y López se negaron darles ningún dinero. Ella dijo al Blade que los hombres regresaron, los sacó por la fuerza de la discoteca y los pusieron en una camioneta.
Autoridades encontraron sus cadáveres unas horas después en un camino de terracería cerca de la carretera principal entre la Ciudad de México y Acapulco.
Un periódico local publicó una foto de uno de los activistas asesinados quién parecía haber recibido un disparo en la parte posterior de la cabeza. Otro informe de la prensa local indica que Estrada, Vega y López habían sido torturados antes de ser asesinados.
“Estamos tristes, deprimidos,” Soberanis dijo al Blade. “Eran jóvenes. Tenían una carrera futura. Toda la diversidad en el estado está triste, está de luto.”
Otros activistas en México también están de luto por sus muertes.
“La pérdida es para una sociedad que exige igualdad, libertad y fin a la violencia,” dijo Lol Kin Castañeda, una activista lésbica quien es miembra de la Asamblea Constituyente de la Ciudad de México en un tweet al gobernador de Guerrero Héctor Astudillo. “Exigimos justicia.”
Informes en la prensa local dicen que la manera en que Estrada, Vega y López fueron asesinados indica que son víctimas del crimen organizado.
“No sé si era un crimen de odio por homófobia,” Soberanis dijo al Blade.
El Blade se ha comunicado con la Secretaría de Seguridad Pública de Guerrero para comentar.
Violencia basada en la orientación sexual y la identidad de género sigue ser común por México.
Los cárteles y grupos del crimen organizado que operan por Guerrero se lo ha hecho uno de los estados más violentos en el país. Un aviso que el Departamento de Estado (EEUU) emitió el 16 de marzo insta a los ciudadanos estadounidenses de no viajar a Guerrero y los estados de Colima, Michoacán, Sinaloa y Tamaulipas.
Un grupo de 43 estudiantes conocidos como los ‘normalistas’ desaparecieron en Iguala, una ciudad que está casi una hora al sur de Taxco en Guerrero, el 26 de septiembre de 2014.
Autoridades mexicanas han acusado al exalcalde de Iguala José Luis Abarca y su esposa, María de los Ángeles Pineda, de orquestar el secuestro. El Associated Press reporta Abarca supuestamente ordenó a agentes de la policía local de entregar a los estudiantes a miembros de un grupo criminal quién los mataron.
La elección para elegir el sucesor del presidente Enrique Peña Nieto, quién no puede postularse para un segundo mandato bajo de la constitución mexicana, se celebrará el 1 de julio. La violencia y la corrupción están entre las principales preocupaciones para los votantes mexicanos.
Marchers in Swaziland’s first-ever pride parade in Mbabane.
