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trans2002-11-14 08:35 pm
chyzar.livejournal.com) wrote in trans2002-11-14 08:35 pm
yay for the protesters!
my only problem with this is, why does "transgender" always seem to mean "MTF"? but yay for fighting for rights!
Majority of City Council Meets with Transgender Protesters
by Rex Wockner
TECATE, Mexico -- About 400 marchers and more than 1,000
spectators turned out for the protest march by
transgendered people and gays in this small Mexican border
city of 125,000 people Nov. 12.
The protesters sashayed down the city's main street behind
a sound truck playing I Will Survive, Girls Just Wanna Have
Fun, Supermodel (You Better Work), Vogue and Livin' La Vida
Loca.
The march was a protest against a new city law that
criminalizes any "man dressed as a woman who transits in
the public way causing social perturbation."
City councilors passed the law (Article 34.15 of the Police
and Good Governance Act) Oct. 21 because, they said,
crossdressing prostitutes are soliciting clients in the
central plaza, behaving crudely and spreading HIV.
The law has not been well-received by local residents, who
lined the street to cheer the marchers. It also has been
widely denounced by newspaper editorial writers, talk radio
hosts and callers, and by local, state and national
human-rights officials.
"The Tecate mayor is trampling on our rights," said marcher
Oeuki. "We are in a free country and he can't violate our
rights like that."
"We want this law repealed," said marcher Miguel. "We want
the city government to respect every person's way of
being."
Jacqueline Ordhez and three of her transgendered friends
came from far-away Mexico City for the march. They belong
to the Active Homosexual Revolutionary Front.
"The city officials and the police, those fucking people
make me sick," Ordhez said. "In Mexico City we are very
free. The police don't bother us. If all the gay people get
together, we can do something for this state, Baja
California."
Tijuana activist and marcher Max Mejía said Mayor Juan
Vargas Rodríguez "is trying the rule people's lives as if
Tecate were a tiny village far away from anywhere."
"It's important to respond to this as a supporter of gay
and transgender rights, and of human rights for everybody,"
Mejía said. "The support from the people on this matter, if
you listen to the radio stations, is just incredible. All
the media people are speaking very strongly against this
law. The media is really laughing at the mayor."
Tecate residents lining the parade route were unanimous in
their support for the marchers.
"It's great. They should be who they are. It's their
right," said Israel Morales.
"They have the right to defend themselves," said Ana. "I
have nothing to say against them."
"It's important that the international community know
what's going on here," said spectator Felipe. "Tecate is a
very nice town with nice people but the government is not
respecting human rights. It's political repression. We have
a new president nationally who ended 70 years of one-party
rule, but Tecate has not changed politically."
Roberto Vázquez, the Tecate representative of the Baja
California State Office for Human Rights and Citizen
Protection, joined the march.
"We are trying to help the homosexuals," he said. "City
officials are having good times making laws. Most of the
people of the city are against the law; they are calling to
the radio stations and speaking against it."
The march stopped for half an hour two blocks short of the
central plaza when police had cleared traffic on one side
of the street but not the other.
"Our permit gives us the entire street, from sidewalk to
sidewalk," said Sheila Obregón Mange, president of the
Tecate Rainbow Gay Association.
The march resumed only after several marchers carrying a
huge rainbow flag ran ahead and used the flag to block
oncoming cars -- something police had been unwilling or
unable to accomplish.
"In Tijuana, we do just march on one side of the street,"
said leading gay activist Enrique Alejandro García. "It
appears the gays are a little more radical in Tecate. They
have their permit and they want the whole street."
Following the march, a large rally took place in front of
City Hall which sits on the southeast corner of the central
plaza. City Hall spokesman Roberto Rodríguez said it was
scandalous that three transgendered persons stood atop a
van in front of City Hall, raised their blouses and showed
their breasts.
"Did you see that?" he asked this reporter. "Did you see
that? Do you think that's right, in front of little
children? This is exactly what this law is trying to
regulate. This is exactly what we mean by 'social
perturbation.'"
As the rally continued, 12 local transgendered persons went
upstairs to the city council chambers for an impromptu
meeting with the police chief and seven members of the
10-member council. (Two non-councilors, one the mayor, also
have votes on the council for a total of 12 votes.)
Although only three councilors voted against the law when
it was passed, at least five of those present voiced
support for repealing it. The next City Council meeting is
Nov. 21.
"This is not a regulation against gays or homosexuals,"
City Hall's Rodríguez explained in an interview. "The
sexual contact of every person for us is intimate and free.
I want to be very clear about this. We are not against
homosexuals, we're not against lesbians, we're not against
gays.
"This regulation speaks specifically to a man dressed as a
woman transiting in the public way causing a social
perturbation," he said. "It's a matter of the image of the
city. They are bothering people, with words and gestures
and actions."
Rodríguez said crossdressers are free to walk around Tecate
if they do not cause social perturbation, but Mayor Vargas
told the local weekly, The Newspaper of Tecate, that even
crossdressers who do not "upset public order" will be arrested.
The punishment for violating Article 34.15 is arrest and a
fine equal to 40 days' salary at the national minimum wage.
That would be about $152.
Tecate sits on the U.S. border 42 miles southeast of San
Diego and 25 miles east of Tijuana. It is known for its
typically Mexican downtown plaza, wineries, ranches, and
the Tecate brewery.
Majority of City Council Meets with Transgender Protesters
by Rex Wockner
TECATE, Mexico -- About 400 marchers and more than 1,000
spectators turned out for the protest march by
transgendered people and gays in this small Mexican border
city of 125,000 people Nov. 12.
The protesters sashayed down the city's main street behind
a sound truck playing I Will Survive, Girls Just Wanna Have
Fun, Supermodel (You Better Work), Vogue and Livin' La Vida
Loca.
The march was a protest against a new city law that
criminalizes any "man dressed as a woman who transits in
the public way causing social perturbation."
City councilors passed the law (Article 34.15 of the Police
and Good Governance Act) Oct. 21 because, they said,
crossdressing prostitutes are soliciting clients in the
central plaza, behaving crudely and spreading HIV.
The law has not been well-received by local residents, who
lined the street to cheer the marchers. It also has been
widely denounced by newspaper editorial writers, talk radio
hosts and callers, and by local, state and national
human-rights officials.
"The Tecate mayor is trampling on our rights," said marcher
Oeuki. "We are in a free country and he can't violate our
rights like that."
"We want this law repealed," said marcher Miguel. "We want
the city government to respect every person's way of
being."
Jacqueline Ordhez and three of her transgendered friends
came from far-away Mexico City for the march. They belong
to the Active Homosexual Revolutionary Front.
"The city officials and the police, those fucking people
make me sick," Ordhez said. "In Mexico City we are very
free. The police don't bother us. If all the gay people get
together, we can do something for this state, Baja
California."
Tijuana activist and marcher Max Mejía said Mayor Juan
Vargas Rodríguez "is trying the rule people's lives as if
Tecate were a tiny village far away from anywhere."
"It's important to respond to this as a supporter of gay
and transgender rights, and of human rights for everybody,"
Mejía said. "The support from the people on this matter, if
you listen to the radio stations, is just incredible. All
the media people are speaking very strongly against this
law. The media is really laughing at the mayor."
Tecate residents lining the parade route were unanimous in
their support for the marchers.
"It's great. They should be who they are. It's their
right," said Israel Morales.
"They have the right to defend themselves," said Ana. "I
have nothing to say against them."
"It's important that the international community know
what's going on here," said spectator Felipe. "Tecate is a
very nice town with nice people but the government is not
respecting human rights. It's political repression. We have
a new president nationally who ended 70 years of one-party
rule, but Tecate has not changed politically."
Roberto Vázquez, the Tecate representative of the Baja
California State Office for Human Rights and Citizen
Protection, joined the march.
"We are trying to help the homosexuals," he said. "City
officials are having good times making laws. Most of the
people of the city are against the law; they are calling to
the radio stations and speaking against it."
The march stopped for half an hour two blocks short of the
central plaza when police had cleared traffic on one side
of the street but not the other.
"Our permit gives us the entire street, from sidewalk to
sidewalk," said Sheila Obregón Mange, president of the
Tecate Rainbow Gay Association.
The march resumed only after several marchers carrying a
huge rainbow flag ran ahead and used the flag to block
oncoming cars -- something police had been unwilling or
unable to accomplish.
"In Tijuana, we do just march on one side of the street,"
said leading gay activist Enrique Alejandro García. "It
appears the gays are a little more radical in Tecate. They
have their permit and they want the whole street."
Following the march, a large rally took place in front of
City Hall which sits on the southeast corner of the central
plaza. City Hall spokesman Roberto Rodríguez said it was
scandalous that three transgendered persons stood atop a
van in front of City Hall, raised their blouses and showed
their breasts.
"Did you see that?" he asked this reporter. "Did you see
that? Do you think that's right, in front of little
children? This is exactly what this law is trying to
regulate. This is exactly what we mean by 'social
perturbation.'"
As the rally continued, 12 local transgendered persons went
upstairs to the city council chambers for an impromptu
meeting with the police chief and seven members of the
10-member council. (Two non-councilors, one the mayor, also
have votes on the council for a total of 12 votes.)
Although only three councilors voted against the law when
it was passed, at least five of those present voiced
support for repealing it. The next City Council meeting is
Nov. 21.
"This is not a regulation against gays or homosexuals,"
City Hall's Rodríguez explained in an interview. "The
sexual contact of every person for us is intimate and free.
I want to be very clear about this. We are not against
homosexuals, we're not against lesbians, we're not against
gays.
"This regulation speaks specifically to a man dressed as a
woman transiting in the public way causing a social
perturbation," he said. "It's a matter of the image of the
city. They are bothering people, with words and gestures
and actions."
Rodríguez said crossdressers are free to walk around Tecate
if they do not cause social perturbation, but Mayor Vargas
told the local weekly, The Newspaper of Tecate, that even
crossdressers who do not "upset public order" will be arrested.
The punishment for violating Article 34.15 is arrest and a
fine equal to 40 days' salary at the national minimum wage.
That would be about $152.
Tecate sits on the U.S. border 42 miles southeast of San
Diego and 25 miles east of Tijuana. It is known for its
typically Mexican downtown plaza, wineries, ranches, and
the Tecate brewery.