This past weekend was the Pride Parade in Mexico City. The gay community has a lot to celebrate. Earlier this year the city council voted to permit a version of gay marriage, and within days the first happy couples made it official in city hall.
The parade -- to my great delight -- was way less commercial than Pride has become in Canada. In Toronto every company with any stake in the community or a business in Boys Town hires pretty boys and girls (some gay, but a lot straight) to get on a float and show their support for their LBGTS clients who tend to have a LOT of disposable income.
But here there were only a handful of floats, and the rest of the parade was more like a promenade. All the people -- outrageously campy drag queens to twink fairies to bears in harnesses and just plain old gay people -- joined in on a long, music, hug and laughter filled walk from one end of downtown to the other. It was festive and friendly and fabulous.
There was a lot of what you expect -- gorgeous men in thongs and crossdressers in pushup bras -- but also some uniquely Mexican elements that I found interesting.
A longtime gay couple, in traditional dress.
Friday Kahlo and friend
Aztec warrior with FABULOUS boots. Even the bells around his calves are consistent with the traditional outfit.
But the best part of the parade had to be when the drag queens crossed paths with the campesinos from Veracruz. They're still here (I wrote about them in an earlier post) and have taken to protesting every day stark raving nude. They're upset at their state governor who bilked them out of land back in the 80's. Every year for more than 20 years they've come to Mexico City to camp out down the street for months at a time (sleeping on concrete and bathing out of buckets) in protest. Seems to be a futile effort, but they haven't lost their sense of humour. YOu might think the campesinos, being rural people generally without a lot of education, would be a bit uptight when the drag queens paraded by. Not so. Bless their hearts, they totally got into it.
To see more flesh and fabulousness, go here: www.flickr.com/photos/qmexico06
2 comments:
Hey,
I just read your short story "The Gist of Everything" in Geist. Very good read. I have a friend working as a researcher for CBC radio and I passed on your weblog address. Cheers
I'm doing research and I came across your blog. Thanks for the personal account. One question--was there a strong women's contingent? My experience in Mexico City's queer community is that it's mainly male dominated.
Best to you.
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