MEXICO CITY ( AP )- After thousands of people marched on Monday night demanding justice, Mexican officials sent conflicting information about the violent death of a prominent LGBTQ+ figure on Tuesday.
According to state prosecution, Jess Ociel Baena was discovered dead on Monday in Aguascalientes, a city in central Mexico, next to their spouse, with about 20 wounds. One of the most well-known LGBTQ+ figures in Mexico, where physical immigrants are frequently fiercely targeted, was Baena, the first openly nonbinary person to hold a judicial position.
Many people across the nation called Baena and their partner’s death a hate crime on Monday because they had already received death threats and cruel messages and were protected by state security.
Officials have given very little information about the killing, but native prosecutors have suggested that it might have been a murder-suicide.
Less: Thousands of Mexican citizens marched for justice in Mexico City after a LGBTQ+ magistrate was discovered dead.
The Aguascalientes prosecutor’s office released new information on Tuesday, claiming that their lover, Dorian Herrera, appeared to have killed Baena with razor blades before killing himself.
State counsel Jes Figueroa Ortega said,” We’re being very careful to leave a report and keep all evidence,” despite the fact that it may seem to some that the hypothesis is not very believable. He continued by saying that one of the wounds was on Baena’s throat and that they discovered blood on the mattress and terrible footprints inside the house.
But, on Tuesday, federal officials issued a warning about the research. The Interior Ministry of Mexico’s Félix Arturo Medina stated that it was crucial to” never throw out any line of research” and that they hoped to work with state government to look into the murders.
The government wants all offences to be investigated, according to Medina, so “it’s a important event for us, not just because of the engagement the judge was carrying out.”
Violence is pervasive in Mexico. According to a National Institute of Statistics and Geography study, only 1 % of all offences were reported, looked into, and solved in 2022.
Many members of Mexico’s LGBTQ+ group swiftly rejected the state government ‘ hypothesis.
Letra S, the LGBTQ+ rights organization’s producer, urged authorities to keep looking into the affair, take into account the circumstances surrounding the case, and issue threats of violence against Baena.
Brito claimed that the state attorney’s account of the events was “loaded with prejudices” and that local authorities ‘ hasty conclusions have only served to increase distrust of them among generally victimized communities.
” They usually try to invalidate or belittle in these types of homicides,” Brito remarked. ” These claims made by the attorney are not clarifying the works; rather, they are stoking the flames of these prejudices.”
People who knew Baena claimed that the court and Herrera had been sarcastic in recent weeks and had spoken strongly about engagement in the future.
Thousands of people gathered in the center of Mexico City on Monday nights to light candles over images of Baena and other victims of anti-LGBT+ violence, echoing Brito. They yelled” Justice,”” We wo n’t remain silent,” and demanded a thorough investigation into the deaths.
Ociel is, and was, the most important person in tomorrow’s struggle for human rights for the LGBTQ+ community, according to Humberto Dena, a 24-year-old marching alongside thousands of other people carrying candles. ” We want ( the authorities ) to keep looking into this case, not just label it a” crime of passion.”
Baena was believed to be the first nonbinary people in Latin America to hold a criminal place when he was appointed matron in October 2022. As one of a group of individuals to receive Mexico’s first documents listing the buyers as nonbinary, Baena overcame another obstacle in May.
Baena gained hundreds of thousands of supporters by advocating on social media sites and wearing clothes and heels in frequently published photos and videos. She also carried a rainbow lover while in court.
” I am a person who is not binary.” I do n’t care if I’m perceived as either a woman or an adult. An identification exists here. It belongs to me and no one else. In June, Baena posted on X, previously Online. Accept it.”
A document recognizing the magistrate with the gender balanced noun “master” was given to Baena by the electoral court next month. This was a significant development in Spanish, which divides the majority of its words between the masculine and feminine genders.
While Mexico has made significant progress in reducing anti-LGBT+ crime, Letra S in the United Kingdom found a rise in sexual minority murder in 2019. At least 117 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people were killed in that year only. There were numerous gruesome murders, including harsh murder and open killings.
In 2019–2022, the National Observatory of Hate Crimes Against LGBTI+ Persons in Mexico recorded 305 aggressive hate crimes against sexual immigrants, including crime, kidnappings, and other atrocities.
