LGBT+ COMMUNITY AND CONAPRED GO AGAINST HATE CRIMES IN Q. ROO

Quintana Roo, Mexico – They meet, they care for each other, they sing, they dress, they recognize each other, they dance, they love each other… they are made uncomfortable, they are singled out, they are disqualified, they are threatened, they are intimidated, they are hated and in the worst of cases they are killed. Stories like these happen all over Mexico, diverse hearts that wake up smiling at every dawn, suddenly they are the lament; one day with the fog of misunderstanding and confusion, without warning, their life is snatched away by others, those who have not been able to resolve the coexistence with the different.

Some media don’t even mention them, the discrimination suffered by the community that brings together people of different sexual preferences has no place, not even to dignify death through justice, and to be able to combat what 13 states in the country (Mexico City, Baja California Sur, Colima, Coahuila, Guerrero, Michoacán, Nayarit, Puebla, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Aguascalientes and Jalisco) already recognize as “hate crimes.”

It was after the death of a young gay man this past 5th of June in Cancún, that different civil associations once again raised their voices and their fists as they demanded security and justice in the face of a State that is overwhelmed with violence, nullifying the possibility of a peaceful coexistence, to which we all have the right.

From Chetumal, Cancún and Playa del Carmen, with flags highlighting their identity and banners with messages of denunciation, the LGBT+ community marched during Friday afternoon, where they were also accompanied by choruses that animated the march while informing of the tragedies they suffer and for which they are willing to fight until they are respected, accepted and their well-being is guaranteed.

That a friend died that night, passes from voice to voice, and according to the Network of LGBT Activists, between 2011 and 2018, 58 people died as a result of hate crimes in Quintana Roo.

In view of the total number of cases, the idea of typifying this crime resurfaced, since it transpired that the state Prosecutor’s Office initiated the investigation under the argument of homicide, but not hate crime. For associations and organizations, naming it in this way would help the authorities to solve it in a more efficient way, since although there is a protocol, it is not always followed.

However, some academics question the correct assignment of route to be able to prosecute these facts, and thus give a criminal order, so they also rescue the term of prejudice, which is understood as the “negative characterization and discriminatory selection of the victim by the group to which he/she belongs”.

The discussion is broad, and the shortcomings of the state are becoming more visible every day; sex education against homophobia and serophobia are part of the demands in Mexico, which echoed from one of the most cosmopolitan places in the country, the Riviera Maya, so that groups in the capital, Mexico City, joined last Friday’s demonstration.

Far from what could be expected in other governments, communication seems to be effective with some organizations, at the moment the institute in charge of preventing discrimination built a bridge, and shared through its digital media, its support to the creation of the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for crimes against the LGBTTTI population in Quintana Roo, and now 17 organizations in the state will be keeping a watchful eye on it.

Translated by Miguel Sánchez