40 years of living in freedom
MÉXICO CITY — México City held its 40th anniversary LGBT Pride Parade (Marcha del Orgullo Lésbico, Gay, Bisexual, Transgénero, Travesti, Transexual e Intersexual) on Saturday, June 23. This year’s theme was “40 years of Living in Freedom. We’re not giving up!”
Crowds along the parade route and at the LGBT club and party scenes were estimated at more than 1 million people.
The parade kicked off at the Angel of Independence in La Zona Rosa at noon exactly as planned — and not on Mexican time! — and ended in front of the Presidential Palace at the Zocalo. There people of all ages and sexes and from all over the world marched on México City’s main thoroughfare, Paseo de la Reforma, which was designed in 1860.
As in Dallas in previous years, at the end of the parade there was entertainment and live music. Admission to most parties at the Zocalo was free.
One of biggest surprises for this year’s Pride parade was that the LGBT crowd was also mixed with hundreds of soccer fans, because anytime México wins in a World Cup match, soccer fans always gather at the Angel of Independence to celebrate. Parade day was was no exception since México’s national soccer team won 2-1 over South Korea at the World Cup in Russia.
Seeing soccer fans and the LGBT community partying and celebrating at the Angel was really a beautiful sight, considering Mexican soccer fans are often considered to be homophobic because they always yell “Eh, puto! (Hey, fag!)” at their opponents. That often prompts FIFA to levy a fine against the Mexico Football Federation. In fact, FIFA handed the Mexico Football Federation a $10,400 fine for “discriminatory and insulting chants” on June 20 this year, just a week before the parade.
Ron Austin and his husband, Lamar Strickland, both former Dallasites, moved to San Luis de la Paz, Guanajuato, 11 years ago. This year for the first time they made it to the Pride Parade in México City.
Austin said to him the event was more of a party than a parade, and he most liked that just about everyone was in costume.
“The crowd is in costume, not like in the U.S., where people just watch and don’t necessarily participate. The whole crowd is like one big moving living throbbing thing,” he said.
Strickland agreed, saying that he most enjoyed seeing “lots of beautiful young brown young men.” He also enjoyed the party atmosphere of the parade and how the whole parade flowed together, allowing spectators to become participants.
It’s very true: The México City parade is not a spectator’s sport but a participatory event — which is the why the parade here is called a “marcha,” with everyone marching down the street openly and free and not just sitting by the sidelines.
Jesus Chairez is a former Dallasite now living in Mexico City. He was the producer and host of North Texas’ first bilingual LGBT Latino radio show, Sin Fronteras, on KNON 89.3 FM from July 1993 to July 2005. He is also the author of Queer Brown Voices, a collection of personal narratives of Latina/o activism. He can be contacted at Facebook.com/JesusChairez