¡Viva las Activistas!
An evening with progressives
18 Mayo 2001:
¡Viva las Activistas!
Today
Ab and I were particularly lazy and didn't get up until late, and we had a
breakfast so late we couldn't even euphemistically call it brunch. It was lunch,
pure and simple.
We decided to skip
another archeological site in favor of going to the bookstore at el Palacio de
Bellas Artes. Even just going into the lobby is magnificent. I bought some gifts
there, and then we headed to the Zona Rosa to meet Flor's sister, Mir. The metro
is gigantic and only costs 15 cents in American money. Of course, it's size and
price are mutually exclusive, but when you think about it, mass transit is the
sole means of transport for most people here, so it has to be cheap. At times,
it feels like all 20 million people in the DF are making the transfers along
with you between train lines. The stations reminded me of the rather open,
spacious platforms in Montreal.
We met
Mir and we headed to San Angel, where we met up with some gay activists: three
journalists, a lesbian legislator, and her consultant. Since Mir is well
acquainted with some of them, she helped set up the meeting. In retrospect, I
realize a lot of my questions were both naive and arrogant at the same time, as
I approached so many questions with my insular first-world point of view. It
seems like the Mexican gay rights movement and recent progress in just five to
ten years is almost the work of unaccountable forces. There are lots of gay
groups, and there is more consciousness of gay people and lesbians in Mexico,
but no one group or set of groups is big enough to vie for credit (like we would
here). It was later explained to me back home that there is a certain "ordered
chaos" at play in some developing nations that makes no sense to someone who's
been a "niche market" since birth (e.g.,
me).
The gay and lesbian rights movement
in Mexico, as it was explained to me, seemed a bit more organic, possibly
because there was so much more overt, orchestrated progress elsewhere. Because
minority rights activists of all kinds have to band together, gay and lesbian
rights have been part and parcel of the women's movement, the rights of Mexican
minorities, and rights and accessibility issues for the disabled. It was also
explained to me that the number 41 is somewhat taboo in Mexico, as 100 years
earlier, in that very street in San Angel, 41 gay men were arrested at a private
party. Apparently, 41 is skipped the way 13 is skipped sometimes in the USA. No
male soldier in a roll-call in the army wants to be number 41. The number is
often skipped. It is a national phenomenon,
apparently.
Well, my coddled first-world
mind might not fully comprehend how the gays and lesbians of Mexico are making
progress, but the six men and women I met seem very determined and dedicated.
It's good to see it's happening, however it happens, it
happening.
After our meeting was over,
Mir, Ab and I went to dinner, and then met Flor and Cat at the family home. We
drove to a gay nightclub called Butterflies. It featured a seemingly de rigeur
drag floorshow and then dancing and a lot of smoke. I must confess that while I
appreciated the outing, nightclubs are not my thing. Especially when 98% of the
population smokes like chimneys. My eyes were bothering me and I was feeling
quite old. But, the place was packed. People of all shapes and sizes were there.
Mostly mestizo-looking Mexicans, since most of the population is a mezcla
(mixture) of the Spanish conquistadores and the indigenios (native indigenous
population).
Posted: Fri - May 18, 2001 at 01:19 AM