Social Issues

LGBT+ activists demand justice for hate crimes in Mexico

Mexico City, Nov 27 (EFE).- Dozens of activists marched on Saturday in Mexico City to demand justice for the murders of members of the LGBT+ community.

For the third consecutive year, some 50 members of the community, led by the Light of Our Dead collective, gathered at the Monument to the Revolution, in the center of the Mexican capital.

With shouts of “Justice!” and “Not one more murder,” the protesters demanded the authorities investigate and clarify dozens of deaths.

“We seek to make an energetic call for attention and action to the authorities, to the federal and local legislative powers, as well as to society in general about these murders and deaths that occur every day,” they said in a statement.

The protesters carried a coffin wrapped in a rainbow flag to show their outrage at these hate crimes which, they said, have escalated in recent years.

The activists arrived at the Hemiciclo al Juárez, downtown, where they placed candles, flowers and banners with photographs of people from the community who have been recently killed, in addition to denouncing the shortage of medicines for people living with HIV.

“In this country, impunity reigns day by day. In this country, death has permission,” they added.

The Letter S organization reported 79 murders of people from the LGBT+ community in 2020, of which more than half were trans women.

According to the protesters, that number of hate killings corresponds only to those that have been reported.

Despite the fact that almost half of the 32 states legally recognize the right to gender identity, the LGBT+ community has denounced a rise in violence and discrimination.

On Friday, Deputy Salma Luévano, from the Movement of National Regeneration (Morena) party said she is promoting an initiative to reform the National Code of Criminal Procedures and the Federal Criminal Code so hate crime would be considered a crime to which unofficial pre-trial detention would apply.

She regretted that violence against the LGBT+ population continues to increase and that federal and local legislative spaces have not made progress to impose exemplary punishments for those who commit these crimes.

On his part, Alain Pinzón, director of the HIVve Libre association, denounced that so far this year, his organization has received at least 1,300 requests for support for anti-retroviral drugs.

Finally, protesters expressed their wish that these types of demonstrations would no longer be necessary to demand justice, however, they regretted that many times investigation files are kept open without a resolution.

In addition, they asked legislators to initiate a discussion on hate crimes in Mexico, and thus achieve their classification and legislation in the country. EFE

csr/tw

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