Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Thousands in Mexico demand justice for LGBTQ+ figure found dead after death threats

MEGAN JANETSKY
November 13, 2023 

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Thousands marched in Mexico's capital Monday night demanding justice for Jesús Ociel Baena, an influential LGBTQ+ figure who was found dead at home in the central city of Aguascalientes after receiving death threats.

Baena was the first openly nonbinary person to assume a judicial post in Mexico, becoming a magistrate in the Aguascalientes state electoral court, and broke through other barriers in a country where LGBTQ+ people are often targeted with violence.

The state prosecutor’s office confirmed that Baena was found dead Monday morning next to another person, who local media and LGBTQ+ rights groups identified as Baena's partner, Dorian Herrera.

State prosecutor Jesús Figueroa Ortega said at a news conference that the two displayed injuries apparently caused by a knife or some other sharp object.

“There are no signs or indications to be able to determine that a third person other than the dead was at the site of the crime,” Figuerora Ortega said.

The suggestion that suicide was one possibility in the deaths quickly sparked outrage, with LGBTQ+ groups calling it another attempt by authorities to simply brush aside violence against their communities. People who knew Baena said the magistrate in recent weeks was chipper and talked passionately about the future.

Federal Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez said at a briefing that authorities were investigating the deaths and it remained unclear if “it was a homicide or an accident.” Some homicides in Mexico have a history of being quickly minimized by authorities as crimes of passion.

Alejandro Brito, director of the LGBTQ+ rights group Letra S, said Baena’s visibility on social media made the magistrate a target and urged authorities to take that into consideration in their investigation.

“They were a person who received many hate messages, and even threats of violence and death, and you can’t ignore that in these investigations,” Brito said. “They, the magistrate, was breaking through the invisible barriers that closed in the nonbinary community.”

Brito was echoed by thousands who gathered in the heart of Mexico City lighting candles over photos of Baena and other victims of anti-LGBTQ+ violence. They shouted “Justice” and “We won't stay silent” and demanded a thorough investigation into the deaths.

Among them was Nish López, who came out as nonbinary in March, partly in response to Baena's inspiration.

“I loved them because they made people uncomfortable, but they knew what they were doing,” López said. “Through institutions they showed that you can inspire change regardless of your gender identity.

In becoming a magistrate in October 2022, Baena was thought to be the first nonbinary person in Latin America to assume a judicial position. Baena broke through another barrier this May as one of a group of people to be issued Mexico’s first passports listing the holders as nonbinary.

Baena appeared in regularly published photos and videos wearing skirts and heels and toting a rainbow fan in court offices and advocated on social media platforms, drawing hundreds of thousands of followers.

“I am a nonbinary person. I am not interested in being seen as either a woman or a man. This is an identity. It is mine, for me, and nobody else. Accept it,” Baena posted on X, formerly Twitter, in June.

Last month, the electoral court presented Baena with a certificate recognizing the magistrate with the gender neutral noun “maestre,” a significant step in Spanish, a language that splits most of its words between two genders, masculine or feminine.

While Mexico has made significant steps in reducing anti-LGBTQ+ violence, Brito's Letra S documented at least 117 lesbian, gay and bisexual and transgender people slain. Many were grisly killings, including brutal stabbings and public slayings.

The National Observatory of Hate Crimes Against LGBTI+ Persons in Mexico registered 305 violent hate crimes against sexual minorities in 2019-2022, including murder, disappearances and more.

Brito said he worried that Baena's death could provoke further violence against LGBQT+ people.

“If this was a crime motivated by prejudice, these kinds of crimes always have the intention of sending a message,” Brito said. “The message is an intimidation, it's to say: ‘This is what could happen to you if you make your identities public.’"

But for López, the nonbinary Mexican who walked with throngs of people in heels and many others in the crowd Monday night, the overwhelming feeling wasn't fear. They wanted to carry on Baena’s legacy.

“I’m not scared, I’m angry,“ López said. “I’m here to make myself visible.”

Mexico's first openly non-binary magistrate found dead at home


Reuters
Mon, November 13, 2023 

MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexico's first openly non-binary magistrate and prominent LGBTQ activist, Ociel Baena, was found dead at home in the central state of Aguascalientes, Mexican authorities said on Monday.

Baena, who used they/them pronouns, was celebrated across Latin America for their work to advance the rights of the LGBTQ community.

Mexico's Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez said authorities are investigating the cause of death.

"We don't know yet ... if it was a homicide or if it was some kind of accident," she said during the president's regular morning press conference.

In October 2022, Baena was sworn in as a magistrate on the Aguascalientes state electoral tribunal in front of the rainbow LGBTQ flag, according to a photo they shared on X under the caption "Making history."

The Aguascalientes state prosecutor's office said in a statement that Baena's body was found along with that of another person, whom local media identified as Baena's partner.

Preliminary findings showed no evidence of a third party at the scene and that the deaths could have been a "personal matter", the statement said.

The authorities are carrying out a forensic analysis to determine the cause of death, the office said.

In Baena's honor, LGBTQ activists are planning vigils and demonstrations on Monday night in Aguascalientes, as well as Mexico City, Monterrey and other major cities.

Human rights organizations are calling for an investigation into whether Baena's death was related to their gender identity.

The former chief justice of Mexico's Supreme Court, Arturo Zaldivar, said he deeply lamented Baena's death.

"We lost a strong voice for equality and the rights of LGBTI+ people," he said in a social media post.

(Reporting by Laura Gottesdiener and Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by David Gregorio)


Mexico's first non-binary magistrate found dead at home after receiving threats


Nov. 14 (UPI) -- One of Mexico's most prominent LGBTQ+ activists has been killed in an apparent knife attack in his home in the west-central state of Aguascalientes, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced during a morning news conference Monday.

"We are just finding out," Lopez Obrador said from the Mexican state of Sonora, "The investigation is going to be carried out, it is not known up to this moment if it was a homicide or an accident."

Thirteen months after being sworn in as the first non-binary electoral magistrate in Latin America, Jesus Ociel Baena Saucedo was found dead in his Agauscalientes home Monday morning, the apparent victim of a knife attack. The state prosecutor's office said Baena was found with injuries consistent with knife wounds about 9 a.m. Monday. A person thought to be Baena's partner was also found dead in the home, also with knife wounds.

"We don't know if it is a homicide or an accident," said Rosa Icela Rodríguez, the head of Mexico's Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection. "An investigation is going to be done."

The death of Baena and the partner prompted LGBTQ+ rights groups, who expressed shock and outrage, to call for stronger anti-discrimination laws in Mexico.

Baena was born in 1984 according to a social media profile, and was an appointed judge with the Electoral Tribunal of the State of Aguascalientes, a division of the Mexican justice system that specializes in election-related matters.

Baena was born in Saltillo, Coahuila and had lived in Aguascalientes for 11 years. Baena earned a law degree from the Faculty of Jurisprudence of the Autonomous University of Coahuila, and also received a master's degree in constitutional law and government policies.

Baena made history by receiving a reissued birth certificate with a box added for "non-binary," and later obtaining Mexico's first non-binary passport from the Civil Registry of Coahuila in honor of the International Day Against Homophobia.

Baena addressed a roundtable discussion Sunday in Oaxaca on LGBTQ+ rights and related issues. Baena pioneered initiatives on behalf of trans children, same-sex marriage and gender-identity recognition, among other rights issues.

In addition to support from the LGBTQ+ community, Baena faced resistance, criticism and hate speech from those outside it. "There were calls from bar associations and people from these bars who [asked] the presiding judge how it was possible that they allowed this type of daring [appointment], especially in a highly conservative state," Baena had said.

Mexico still faces discrimination and violence targeting LGBTQ+ individuals. According to LetraEse, a digital news site focused on sexuality and gender, murders of LGBTQ+ people in Mexico increased by nearly a third from 2020 to 2021.

Jesús Ociel Baena: Mexico's first non-binary magistrate found dead

Kathryn Armstrong - BBC News
Mon, November 13, 2023 

Mexico's first openly non-binary member of the judiciary and prominent LGBTQ+ activist Jesús Ociel Baena has been found dead at their home.

The body of the magistrate was discovered on Monday in the central city of Aguascalientes, alongside that of a second person.

Local media identified the second person as Baena's partner.

Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez said it was unclear "if it was a homicide or... some kind of accident".

According to a statement from the state attorney-general's Office, there was no sign that a third person had entered the house.

They said that a sharp object had been found and that preliminary findings suggested the incident could have been a personal matter.

The LGBTQ+ rights group Letra S has urged local authorities to investigate the deaths thoroughly and without prejudice.

Alejandro Brito, the group's director, said that Baena, who used they/them pronouns, had received "many hate messages, and even threats of violence and death", the Associated Press reported.

Brito added that Baena had been "breaking through the invisible barriers that closed in the nonbinary community".

The 38-year-old became a magistrate for the Aguascalientes state electoral court in October 2022 and was thought to be the first non-binary person in Latin America to take up a judicial position.

In June, they were among the first group of people to be issued gender-neutral passports.

"I am a non-binary person, I am not interested in seeing myself as a woman or a man," Baena wrote on X, formerly Twitter, the same month.

"This is an identity, it is mine and for me, for no one else."

A vigil was held for Baena by other LGBTQ+ activists in the capital, Mexico City, on Monday evening.

"We are heirs to a struggle that Ociel inherited from us," one person told Reuters news agency.

"We must not let Ociel's death pass in vain and we must carry on the legacy Ociel left us."

The former chief justice of Mexico's Supreme Court, Arturo Zaldivar, wrote on social media that he deeply regretted the magistrate's death.

"We lost a strong voice for equality and the rights of LGBTI+ people," he said.

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