Dozens march in Mexico to protest hate speech against trans people

Mexico City, Mar 28 (EFE).- Dozens of people marched Monday in Mexico City calling for the end of hate speech in the country.

The march was convened after a forum by a center attached to the National Autonomous University of Mexico in which, protesters claimed, people who made transphobic comments were included.

“We condemn the fact that a (university) space has been used to generate a false debate. Did (the university) release any public funds for this forum? (…) If so, the dean has to clarify why it happened,” trans activist Gloria Virginia Davenport said during the protest.

The demonstrators marched from the iconic Monument to the Revolution to the Benito Juarez Hemicycle, in the heart of the capital, where several activists and politicians took the stage to show their support for the trans community and repudiation of what had transpired.

The “necessary clarifications on sex and gender categories” forum was convened by the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in the Sciences and Humanities (Ceiich) on Mar. 24.

Several civil organizations and people from the LGBT community claimed that some of the speakers, including Marcela Lagarde and Amelia Valcarcel, made “transphobic” speeches at the event.

“We request in the most attentive and respectful way that a dialog be opened with trans women,” the groups said.

After the march and the rally, several groups and artists performed to convey a message of unity and respect for the trans community.

Dozens of people also demonstrated in Ciudad Universitaria, the main university campus, where they made graffiti, chanted slogans such as “here is the trans resistance” and asked the university for explanations and to take measures.

Hundreds of groups, organizations, students, professors and university employees signed a statement demanding a strong position against transphobia.

Mexico has the second highest number of violent incidents related to homophobia and transphobia in Latin America, after Brazil, according to the National Observatory of Hate Crimes against LGBT Persons in Mexico by the Rainbow Foundation. EFE

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