Oaxaca joins Mexico’s LGBT+ countrywide pride parades
Oaxaca, Mexico, Jun 18 (EFE) – Thousands participated Sunday in the third edition of the Caravan March for LGBT+ Pride in the city of Oaxaca, southern Mexico.
They started at the Fountain of the Eight Regions of Oaxaca, an indigenous cultural diversity symbol, and drew 5,000 people, who gathered to promote the right and respect to freely embrace their gender preferences.
During the rally, marchers waved and identified with rainbow flags to make the LGBT+ community visible in Mexico.
The march was unique as it recalled historic moments for the Mexican LGBT+ community, the advancement of their visibility and recognition of their human rights.
While passing the monument known as Las Aguilas, which shows the figure of former Mexican President Porfirio Diaz, people waltzed to remember the historical “Dance of the 41,” in 1901, during the Mexican historical period known as “The Porfiriato.” This was one of the strongest repressions against sexual and gender diversity in Mexico.
It’s the first documented moment in Mexican history about the clandestine participation of 42 gay men in a party where half of them wore suits and the other half wore dresses.
When police launched a crackdown, only 41 men were arrested, as reported by newspapers, creating controversy because it was presumed that the 42nd man was the son-in-law of Diaz himself.
Revelers, as millions have done throughout Mexico this month, held the “besoton” – which saw them simultaneously kiss their partners – to promote the normalization of diversity and tackle discrimination and prejudice.
The march covered more than 3 kilometers and ended in the Oaxaca City’s Zocalo, with the excitement and enthusiasm that distinguishes the LGBT+ community in Oaxaca, famous worldwide for positioning and making the so-called third gender visible. EFE
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