Antonio Medina, Letra S, La Jornada

I interviewed Antonio Medina, coordinator of Letra S, a fortnightly supplement in left-wing daily newspaper La Jornada. He, and his couple were the first couple to utilize the registration scheme, introduced into being by the Party of Democratic Revolution (PRD) in 2006.

Antonio Mendina

41 years old, 19 years out of the closet, large family, very religious, but very educated. After he family, only took them a small amount of time to be OK with it. I believe strongly that the Personal is political, I began my activism at university. All my homework was about the question of homosexuality. We suffer a lot through the media. This is a big hurdle we have to change. Front covers like "maricon strangled/ homosexuals killed" in the front cover of magazines causes much pain.

I became active at uni, GUAM - they say Zapatista SubCommandante Marcos was a professor there. Very left campus, very progressive ideas. In 1996 I helped form a gay rights group - we campaigned and won a queer space. The rector was very supportive, very open. I lived in Canada for 2 years before going to GUAM, therefore I knew that unis had queer spaces. During my university time I came in contact with Letra S, and worked for them in a voluntary fashion. I joined with them , an investigation team into hate crimes. We sorted through many photos and cases of homophobic hate crimes. It was very hard. Wothout money. It was a hard job to do for ones sanity, ones mind.

In 1998, when I finished my studies, I got a contract with Letra S, after many years of volunteer work. This was the 90s, and lots of work was being done around AIDS.

I dont think in Mexico, there is really a gay strip, or gay community like there is in the West. We have small groups, but not a big community.

AIDS in the 90s and 80s was the big issue. 80% of men in Mexico who have AIDS are gay or men who have sex with men. In the 90s poor countries fought for the state to assume responsibility for medical attention - drugs became available but we did not and still do not have good medical attention. There no health for all here. The fight was around the fact that the state institutions did not want to say that yes, gay men are effected. 10 years in 1985 we had a big earthquake, and after this quaked there was a huge rise in social activism. All types of social activism, womens civil groups. AIDS came around this time to Mexico too, and so gay men fought for health care in the context of this rise of social activism.

In the 90s Patria Jiménez, the first openly lesbian candidate in Mexico was elected. Also, the 90s held the Zapatistas, they were very important. Patria's first overrinding campaign was indigenous rights with the Zapatistas. 98 was the first legislative forum LGBT. It was very good, positive But the medias of communication were terrible/ violent against LGBT. Strong homophobia in the media. 1998 was too a commission around hate crimes.

2001 we began the fight around laws of convinience within FD. The Party of Social Democracy prepared a law convinience here. It was knocked back originally. Finally, after 6 years it was passed. But with much of debate, discussion. All social actors were speaking about this issue - magistrates, universities, churches, schools. Was being explained in all places. Because this law was first in a northern state - Colima, and it was put up by the PRI who have has 71 years in power here in Mexico, the law the state PRI put up was a law from France. Finally, in 2006 they approved almost the exact law here in DF that they had in Colima.

In the 6th MArch 2006, we applied the law of convenience. - me and my partner were motivated to use this law because no-one - no couples would come forth to use the law. If no-one used the law, then the community would come under fire.

Indeed this was already happening. After two months of the law passed, no-one had come forward to use them. There began to be critisim from Orocio Franco and various media.

So me and my partner deliberated. We had, them 4 years together, sharing our lives. So we did it, and for almost one month we were in the press talking about the law, the positives and the limits. My partner is not an activist, but he assumed the responsibility. We are still fighting for marriage. I got criticism from friends and family, because it was not just for love that we did this. We may or may not stay together for the rest of our lives, but we did it because the laws needed validation, and we needed more discussion in society about our rights.

For example, my partner got very sick, very suddenly and I went to the hospital and they said he may need a transplant, urgently and can you sign this form, are you family. And I said no, I am a friend, at that stage it was very early into our relationship. But then they said, well, no, ring his family. And I only had one number, of a family member and I could not reach them. So then I told them of our relationship, and they still refused, and so I told them that I was a journalist with La Jornada, and if they did not allow me to sign, I would go public. Well, I am a journalist, I have the power to do this, I know my rights. But for others, this is not an option. This new law helps, but it is not marriage, which would have more of a social impact, so that this could not happen.

The law has limitations, The biggest is social security - that for hetrosexual couples they have the right to their partners benefits if they die/get sick/ hetrosexual couples are able to go to football games on special packages for example too, gyms etc have packages etc but we don't get that kind of recognition with this law. There is also no adoption rights.

For hetro couples who have lots of money, they can get kids through adoption. Not so for us under this law. However, the law has benefits - it is in large part symbolic - it is very important to see that we have rights. Symbolic for society. That we are informed that their exists rights. We change things little by little.

The first gay march was 1978, and now at the end of June we have a very big march/ procession. Previosly, when they started in 1999, they went to Chapultapec to the Benito Juarez memorial because he was president who fought hard for the separation of church and state. The rally at Chapultepec went to the Benito Juarez memorial to honor his role. Then the marches grew to 20,000 to 30,000 people and we moved and went to the Zocolo which is in the center of town, and of course very symbolic. We entered and then, after the march increased in numbers. Not just gay people, their familes, aunties. People from unions, universities UNAM, Zapatistas.

The Zapatistas were important SCMArcos mentioned the rights of LGBT people very early on in the life of the Zapatistas. Companies were interested in coming - ABSOLUTE (vodka) for example, beer companies and the like. Little by little, they made their way into the marches. They are very expensive to organise. Has a negative impact, yes, but expensive, so accepted the money. 100,000 people at the last two rallies participated. There are now fights between groups as to who will march at the front.

70s the fight was against police and general repression.
80s question of AIDS and health care
90s marriage rights - sexual education campaigns in schools and society.

La Jornada and Letra S
1st year of La Jornada was 1994, just before the 1985 earthquake. Left leaders were the founders. Communist Party in the 70s and 80s fought hard the social fight and then founded LJ. Also joining it were left intellectuals and uni professors. When it was founded HIV hit Mexico. Letra S began 10 years later, in 1994. Originally it began in a government space, in a government newspaper called the 'National' which was very official, very government. But it was also very limited, because its circulation was low, not many people read it. In 1998 Letra S joined LJ, which was a good move because LJ has a higher circulatin, so more people read Letra S now. Much better impact. 100,000 LJ sold every day in Mexico. Letra S is also an non-government organisation, that works on issues of sexuality, AIDS, as well as a sumplement 14 years old. Letra S takes up political themes, critical of public politics, critical of the health government institutions, education department,
development department. Very critical overall. A style of journalism that is
different from the rest, there are very few good issues raised in other publications. A social vision, very different.

Other issues in Mexico is that transgendered people need to be able to change their identity - they need to have operations.

Censure, there is no self-censorship but well, in some spaces yes. For example, 2003 those in the military with AIDS, still the military will not talk about it. In Mexico you cannot criticize the Virgin Guadalope, well, with the military, its like the same. You cant question them. They have power, they can make you disappear, so yea, people are afraid to question them. Not all the media, thanks to our push and others homsexuals in the media, we wrote about it. Then, practically all the press LGBT wrote about it. It was very good. Also, the theme of youth homosexuality because of the charge of pedophilia. There are specialists who have investigated this - but we are not writing about it because they are are afraid they will lose their jobs and the like. Also, erectile dysfunction between gay men is not reported, but it is common. Those men who are 'tops' that is they do the penetrating, they are penetrating or tops have problems with erectile dysfunction.

There is no law in Mexico that would enable the LGBT community to stop lies about condoms not causing lies. Like the lies that Pope Benedict promotes. They are very dangerous. There is no such laws here, and they would be good.

There are two grand private companies that dominate the press here in Mexico. Before the elections here in July, it is not good to campaign around marriage law. Why? Because they thing of a lay like marriage is that it is a Federal law, and we need to utilise these elections to win more deputies. The PRD, need to be strong federally for us to pass such a law, Socially, homosexual marriage is a great necesity. There are better times for us to push for this law. We will use up a time that is not good, if we push it before the elections.

Holland were vanguardists in this regard. They passed it in 1989, they advanced on abortion as well.

LGBT oppression is not only social but it is cultural, it is within peoples thoughts, internalized. Not only outside repression. Therefore, it is important to have marriage as a symbol. That we have the same rights as hetrosexual couples.

Transgender oppression for LGB is about gender, and there is a lot of oppression within trans people within the LGBT community in Mexico. It is part of the human condition. It is part of the folklore of the African American communities, the peasant communitys, and in our communtiy there is violence. I have transexual friends, and we are walking, and some other people I know, other friends, will not come and greet me if they see me with transgender friends. This is part of out internalised homophobia/transphobia - attacking someone who is different to ourselves. Discriminatory, a question of status as well, Mexico history of classification - of looking down at those in a lower class conquistadors, criolle, etc etc.

Post the war of 1910, the revolutionary democratic government demanded homosexiuals be given specific identification, for example.

On our processions, festivals, nightclubs. They are a celebration of nudity. Meat of nudity. They are a result of our oppression that we have suffered for so long. The pagan carnival was a fertility carnival, tied closely with sex, for rain, sun, so that the crops would grow and life would continue. That is the history of carnivals. So our festivals now are this, but they are also a protest against hate and against the ideas of the Catholic church. They are to repudiate our repressor.