The civil right that dare not speak its name
It was easy to overlook, and not exactly the most widely celebrated day on the calendar, but 17 May was “International Day Against Homophobia”… except here in Mexico.
President Calderón has no trouble signing the meaningless proclamations for International Women’s Day, or International Day of the Indigenous, or any of the other “International” days meant to highlight continued discrimination against vulernable peoples. But, 17 May was proclaimed “National Day of Tolerance” — and, of course, ignored by the administration.
“Tolerance”, while sounding like it might mean the same thing, seems to be the administration’s rear-guard attempt to justify discrimination… in that it implies “tolerance” for clerical and conservative attacks on minorities (sexual and otherwise) and women. One “tolerates” those attacks, while simultanously “tolerating” the existence of minorities, but doing nothing to improve their social or economic well-being.
This administration, has a record of ignoring progressive policy changes, and — largely controlling the press — somewhat overlooked has been the major changes in our Constitution. Recently passed the prerequisite 17 states — the President’s party fighting the changes mostly on the grounds that the changes would promote abortion, libertinage and homosexuality — the consitutional changes affect several different parts of the entire document, strengthening non-discrimination language, and making it clear that civil rights protections for all persons (including sexual minorities) is a responsiblity at all levels of government, from municipalities to the Federal government.
Perhaps to drive home the point that change is coming, whether the President likes it or not, another “new” Constitutional change (that’s been awaiting Presidential signature since 2009) permits the President of the Senate or of the Chamber of Deputies to sign bills that the President of the Republic won’t sign.
There are at least 50 bills awaiting official sign-off before they can be published in the Diario Oficial and become part of the legal code. In the meantime, Mexicans will just have to tolerate FeCal’s indifference.
mexfiles.net 
While some elements of the press may be establishment-ummm-loyal, there seems to me a lot of press that is pretty free here, pretty critical and pretty useful. More so than in the US where The Paper of Record, the NYTimes, seems a government mouthpiece more often than not. La Jornada continues to be a strong voice as do many of the online sites sprouting up all over, some of which have substantial followings.
Jornada is, as it has been for the last 30 years, one of the best newspapers in the Americas (if not the world), but alas, it’s not widely distributed throughout the Republic (there is only one or two newsstands in Mazatlan that carries it, for example). Proceso was famously NOT distributed here, when there was an interview with “El Mayo” (and, perhaps having more to do with the cut in deliveries, an article on probable ties between the then PRI gubnatorial candidate here in Sinaloa and the “cartel”). And there are others, SDPNoticias on the left and Cronica del Hoy on the right that are very good … though the major players are Televisa, and the radio networks, as well as the mass circulation dailies which have signed off on “Iniciativa Mexico”.
What is it about Mazatlán that keeps distribution of La Jornada limited? It’s at the newstands in Xalapa and the few in Coatepec (I have to admit there aren’t many in coatepec). Xalapa is a newspaper reader’s heaven with multiple stands and multiple papers. I’ve never not been able to get Proceso in either place.
Distance… there’s no easy way to get to (or from) here by land from anywhere except over the Devil’s backbone, or up from Tepic… and this is an extremely politically conservative part of the country.