LGBT Rights in Mexico - Political Influence

Political Influence

LGBT participation is a part of the long-governing Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Since the triumph of the Liberals under President Benito Juárez in the 1860s and the 1910 Revolution, there has been separation of church and state in Mexico. With morality generally considered the province of the Church, the PRI (which considers itself the party of the Revolution) has generally been reluctant to be seen as implementing the will of the Catholic Church. However, it has also been careful not to offend Catholic moral sensibilities. In 1998, President Ernesto Zedillo (of the PRI) appointed Pedro Joaquín-Coldwell (an openly-bisexual politician and former governor of Quintana Roo) ambassador to Cuba. Nevertheless, most individual officeholders tend to view LGBT issues as a private matter (to be ignored) or a moral problem (to be opposed). The PRI has allied with the PAN to block legislation concerning LGBT rights in some states (except in two cases). The party unanimously voted in favor of the recognition of same-sex civil unions in Mexico City and Coahuila. There was some internal debate within the PRI whether or not the party should have a platform plank on the issue.

The National Action Party (PAN), a center-right party, tends to endorse Roman Catholic Church teachings and oppose LGBT issues on moral grounds. Some PAN mayors have adopted ordinances (or policies) leading to the closing of gay bars or the detention of transvestites (usually on prostitution charges). Many of its leaders have taken public stands describing homosexuality as "abnormal", a "sickness" or a "moral weakness". In the 2000 presidential elections, PAN candidate (and eventual winner) Vicente Fox used homosexual stereotypes to demean and humiliate his principal opponent (Francisco Labastida). Fox accused Labastida of being a sissy and a mama's boy, and nicknamed him Lavestida ("the cross-dressed"). When Mexico City and Coahuila legalized same-sex civil unions the chief opposition came from the PAN, former President Vicente Fox and current president Felipe Calderón. Since then the party has opposed similar bills, with the rationale of protecting traditional family values. Nonetheless, PAN officials have insisted that homosexuals have rights as human beings, and should in no case be subjected to hatred or physical violence.

Participation by sexual minorities is widely accepted in the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), one of Mexico's three major political parties. Since its creation during the late 1980s, the PRD has supported LGBT rights and has a party program committed to ending discrimination on the basis of sexual diversity. In the 1997 parliamentary elections, Patria Jiménez became the first openly-lesbian member of the Federal Congress, and LGBT-rights advocate David Sánchez Camacho was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Federal District (ALDF). Two years later, the PRD-controlled Legislative Assembly passed an ordinance banning discrimination based on sexual orientation (the first of its kind in the country. In 2008, a PRD-backed bill concerning gender identity was passed allowing transgender people to change their gender and sex on official documents. In the 2009 parliamentary elections, of the 38 LGBT candidates presented by several political parties, only Enoé Uranga succeeded: an openly-lesbian politician who, in 2000, promoted the legalization of same-sex civil unions in Mexico City. The bill passed six years later in the PRD-controlled Legislative Assembly, allowing same-sex couples inheritance and pension rights. Similar bills have been proposed by the PRD in at least six states. In December 2009, Mexico City's PRD-controlled Legislative Assembly passed a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples in the jurisdiction. Eight days later, after congressional approval, PRD Head of Government ("Mayor") Marcelo Ebrard signed the same-sex marriage bill into law; it went into effect in early March 2010. Other leftist, minor parties are Convergence and the Labor Party (PT). Both have supported the LGBT community and PRD-proposed bills regarding LGBT rights.

The defunct Social Democratic Party (PSD), a minor progressive party, was noted for its support of the LGBT community. In the 2006 presidential elections Patricia Mercado, the first woman presidential candidate, was the only candidate openly supporting same-sex marriage. In the 2009 parliamentary elections, the party nominated 32 LGBT candidates (out of a total of 38 presented by other parties) for seats in the Federal Congress. In the municipality of Guadalajara, the second-largest city of Mexico, Miguel Galán became the first openly-gay politician to run for mayor in the country. During his campaign Galán was a target of homophobic comments, notably by Green Party rival Gamaliel Ramirez (who, on a radio show, joked about homosexuals and referred to the PSD as "a dirty party of degenerates"). Ramirez also called homosexual practices "abnormal" and said they should be outlawed. The following day, Ramirez issued a written apology after his party condemned his comments. Despite losing the election, Galán received 7,122 votes (the most for any openly-gay politician in Mexico).