Pride Month 2020: Patria Jimenez, first openly gay member of Mexican Congress, ushered in monumental changes
Over the second half of the 20th century, many countries began experiencing a wave in LGBTQ movements, calling for reforms and equal rights for members of the community. The movement's history in the United States even inspired other countries to follow suit. One of those countries is Mexico, where the LGBTQ gained steam in the 70s, though tolerance of sexual diversity was seen in certain indigenous cultures, especially among the Isthmus Zaptocs and the Yucatan Mayans.
Influenced in part by the gay rights movement in the United States and the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre — where armed forces opened fire on unarmed civilians protesting the 1968 Mexico City Olympics — a number of organizations emerged to support the LGBTQ movement. Pride parades have occurred in Mexico City since 1979 and Guadalajara since 1996.
In 2015, the country's Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation changed the legal definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. Laws restricting marriage to a man and woman were deemed unconstitutional. However, more work remains to be done as couples must request an injunction from a judge, a process that heterosexual couples do not have to go through.
One of the key figures in Mexico's LGBTQ movement is Patria Jimenez who became the country's first openly homosexual member of Congress when she was elected at the age of 41 and the first in any country in Latin America. Jimenez was born in San Luis Potosi in 1957 and became involved in activism when she was in high school, protesting the lack of essential resources for secondary school students.
It was in high school that Jimenez realized that she was a lesbian, and she argues that she "was never in the closet". However, her family did not accept her sexuality and believed that it was a psychological issue. Due to this, Jimenez left home at a young age to avoid being sent to a psychiatrist who would try to "cure" her sexuality. It was then that Jimenez became actively involved in activism for equal rights for the LGBTQ community.
In her first demonstration, Jimenez protested against the assassination of Iranian women for removing their headdresses. She helped unfurl a sign saying "Mexican Lesbians Against the Assassination of Iranian Women" in front of the Iranian Embassy. It was in 1997 that Jimenez ran for Congress when the rights for the LGBTQ community were still contested heavily in Mexico. LGBTQ activists were active in constructing a political platform to help get Jimenez elected after she ran with the slogan, "Safe Sex, Save Vote — Make the Future Yours!"
When the Party of Democratic Revolution won 36% of central Mexico, they got Jimenez into Congress and this led to major changes towards the acceptance of the LGBTQ community in the country. Jimenez worked on issues of violence against the LGBTQ community, violations of basic rights, sexual and sexuality education, cultural activism, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases awareness, as well as domestic violence initiatives. She also worked on behalf of sexual minorities and for the dispossessed throughout the country.
Today, Jimenez is still an activist and the head and co-founder of El Clóset de Sor Juana (Sister Juana's Closet), a lesbian rights group named after Juana Inés de la Cruz, a Carmelite nun and renowned Mexican poet. She also continues to organize marches and other forms of demonstrations to show the growing support for gay rights all over the world. She has spread out to helping activists in other countries that still suppress the movement for LGBT rights. She continues to be politically involved in other issues, such as women's rights, worker's rights and abortion rights.
Each week during Pride Month, MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) will cover one politician who played a significant role in the history of the LGBTQ+ movement. We previously featured Harvey Milk and George Moscone.