Crowd filmed tearing down Pride flag in Mexico, sparking pro-LGBTQ+ rally
A Pride flag was torn to shreds in Mexico City following orders from the Institute of the National Housing Fund for Workers’s union leader, Rafael Riva Palacio Pontones. (Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Workers in Mexico have been recorded tearing a giant Pride flag from a building, in an act that sparked a pro-LGBTQ+ rally.
The rally took place outside the Institute of the National Housing Fund for Workers after union leader Rafael Riva Palacio Pontones ordered his members to remove the flag because he “considered it unworthy”.
In a post on X/Twitter, the institute’s general director, Carlos Martínez Velázquez, condemned the move.
“The union leader of our institution called on some of his members to break with the flags that we put up every June during Pride month,” he said, according to the Mexico Daily Post. “After five years, it is the first time it has reached this point.”
According to other reports, workers who took part could be heard shouting: “The only flag we allow is the national one.”
The National Council to Prevent Discrimination called for “recognition and respect for the symbols of the struggle of those who have contributed to the expansion of rights, and promote inclusion in all its facets, particularly if it is a public institution and social welfare that aims to serve all people”.
The council added: “These types of actions attack human dignity, segregate, stigmatise and encourage acts of violence that can violate people’s lives.”
Footage of the incident on X continues to be circulated with little context.
One post which shares the footage asked: “What should happen to these Mexicans after tearing up an LGBTQ+ flag?”
Comments under the post include suggest that those who took part should get a “green card”, which would give them permanent residency in the US.
In June, Claudia Sheinbaum became the first woman to be elected president of Mexico. Although she doesn’t assume office until October, her appointment looks to be beneficial for LGBTQ+ Mexicans, given her history of supporting the community.
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