Mexican wins asylum in U.S.
A Mexican man was granted asylum in the U.S. because the court detirmined that he would face persecution for being gay and would not receive treatment for AIDS in Mexico.
His lawyers cited widespread persecution and violence against homosexuals in Mexico. They also cited the lack of widespread AIDS treatment. I’m sure anti-immigrant groups will have a field day with this case.
I have written about homophobia in Mexico before. Mexico City does have a lively gay community, but I’m certain that violence, persecution, and prejudices persist.
As a random aside, it seems that the photo used to accompany the BBC story is of a trio that I also took pictures of at the 2005 gay pride march in Mexico City.
Photo included with the article from the 2005 Mexico City gay pride march:
BBC photo
My photo
My photo
Hello, I just discovered your blog and really like it. I am very interested in all things Mexican, and once taught Mexico’s first, Lesbian novel, Amora by Rosa María Roffiel to undergraduates. That’s when I first started reading about gay pride and its history in Mexico. This latest post and your other ones on the subject are very illuminating to me. (I find it hard, from a distance, to keep as current as I’d like with current events in Mexico. As a nineteenth-century specialist, I pretty much live in the past!). At any rate, I may use posts from your blog in one of my courses. Let’s see how it goes…
Thanks. I don’t know that novel, but if it’s available in translation, I might consider it for my L.A. politics class. I have my students read one L.A. novel from a list and write about how the novel reflects things we learn about politics in L.A. I try to find novels that are not GGM or commonly taught. Paco Ignacio Taibo books are good for that in Mexico. Since I don’t teach lit, I’m always looking for good books in translation that may be off the beaten literature track.
Hi Michelle
Unfortunately Amora is not translated as far as I know, but it should be because it would find a market in the U.S., in the Lesbian community and among academics in queer studies and other fields. I like Taibo very much as well. Re: recently translated Latin American fiction, I can recommend “Matador” by Pedro Lemebel (original title Torero tengo Miedo). Lemebel is a Chilean activist and performance artista and now novelist. This novel tells the story of a drag queen and the urban guerillas who tried to assasinate Pinochet in the 1970’s. Very fine novel. Not too long. Engaging. I taught it in Spanish and the students liked it. I assume the English translation is good although I haven’t seen it.