Three LGBT+ activists have been murdered in Mexico
Three LGBT+ activists were pulled into a van, reportedly tortured, then murdered in the early hours of Sunday morning in Mexico.
The bodies of three men, who were advocates for LGBT+ rights, were found murdered on a dirt road near the tourist destination of Taxco, reported gcn.
Rubén Estrada, Robert Vega and Carlos Uriel López were in a nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning when a group of men tried to extort money from them, reported Washington Blade.
They were then forced into a van and shot in the back of the head, reported gcn.
The bodies were found in the early hours of the morning on a dirt road between Mexico City and Acapulco.
Estrada, 35, was celebrated as an LGBT+ luminary.
He was the main organizer of Taxco’s annual Pride march.
Vega and López were a couple and fellow activists alongside their friend.
President of LGBT+ rights group Diversidad Guerrero Gaby Soberanis said that the men were targeted for extortion by a suspected gang member who carried out the crime.
Police have arrested the person in question.
“We are sad, depressed,” Soberanis told the Blade. “They were young. They had a future ahead of them. The entire state’s LGBTI rights movement is sad, is in mourning.”
“The loss is for a society that demands equality, freedom and an end to violence,” tweeted Lol Kin Castañeda, a lesbian activist who is a member of the Mexico City Constituent Assembly.
202 members of the LGBT community in Mexico were murdered between 2014 and 2016, which is approximately six a month.
In spite of this, only 17 cases were classified as a hate crime, reported gcn.
Homophobia is a cause of concern in Mexico.
FIFA have launched an investigation into Mexican fans who were said to have used homophobic chants when their country’s team won 1-0 against Germany on Sunday.
Mexican fans gather to celebrate Mexico’s victory against Germany during the 2018 World Cup, in Merida, Yucatan state, Mexico on June 17, 2018. (Photo by LUIS PEREZ / AFP) (Photo credit should read LUIS PEREZ/AFP/Getty Images)
During the World Cup match, Mexico fans were heard chanting the gay slur “puto” at Germany’s goalkeeper during the match.
Mexico fans have been actively encouraged to stop using the word puto, which translates as a man who has sex with other men in Spanish.
