Changing with the times

This probably only affects a small number of individuals, but just making this legal change is more evidence that the image we have of a “Catholic” traditional Mexico isn’t anything like the reality. As it is, transvestites have always been more or less accepted in Mexican society (grudgingly), and — once it became medically possible, transgenders have been around Mexico City for some time. It was “tradition” for transgenders to work off the books (usually as prostitutes) being in the eyes of the law without identity.

I get a kick out of the concern about criminals taking advantage of the new law. Probably the most famous drag queen of all times was General Santa Ana, who after one failed coup escaped by disguising himself as a nun. And who can forget the Basque hero(ine) Catalina de Erauzo, the “Lieutenant Nun” who lived as a man, working first as a mercenary and hit-man in Peru, and later as a semi-respectable mule driver in Mexico in the early 17th century. Her “memoirs” have been translated and published recently.

(Nacha Cattan, The News)

Transgender individuals in Mexico City will be able to change their name and sex on official documents thanks to a new law passed by the capital’s Assembly on Friday.

A civil court has between three and six months to accept and carry out a request to adjust birth certificates and other legal paperwork, the law states.

City legislators say this is the first time any member of the transgender, transsexual and transvestite community will have the option to alter their documentation to fit their identity.

“Until now people in this condition were essentially undocumented in Mexico City, because they have a physical appearance that does not match their papers,” said Leticia Quezada, a member of the Assembly.

While transgender representatives celebrated the law, they said it did not go far enough.

A previous version of the bill granted free sex-change operations at public hospitals, but that was stricken from the legislation after some left-wing lawmakers said there was not enough support for such a measure to pass the Assembly.

“We celebrate this first step, but it is incomplete,” said Anxelica Risco, who represents the group Eon Transgender Integration. “There is nothing more we can do than demand that the law be extended.”

Risco, however, praised the new measure for not requiring applicants to first undergo surgery or hormone therapy, but rather to prove their identity change to the courts through the testimony of sexologists and psychologists.

These experts, along with proof that the person is a member of the transgender community, will also prevent criminals from masking their identity in order to escape detection, Quezada said.