Return-Path: rjh1@midway.uchicago.edu ============================================================= >From the Action Alerts column in the December 1992 issue of Socialism and Sexuality, the quarterly newsletter of the Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Commission of the Democratic Socialists of America. You may reproduce this information freely pro- vided you credit the source. For information on the Commission's electronic mailing list contact DSA-LGB-request@midway.uchicago.edu Subscriptions to S+S are $8 per year payable to Chicago DSA, 1608 N. Milwaukee #403, Chicago, IL 60647. ============================================================ November 24, 1992 MORE MEXICAN GAY AND AIDS ACTIVISTS ATTACKED The Mexico City gay organization Circulo Cultural Gay reports that Martin Balesca Dominguez, a member of the Mexican AIDS organization Piscis de Arriaga in the state of Chiapas, was beaten and stabbed several times by unidentified attackers who then left him for dead. This is the latest in a string of attacks against gay men and prostitutes in Mexico which was the focus of an earlier Action Alert on July 30. Over the past year, 12 gay men and 9 prostitutes have been murdered in Chiapas; most of them have been shot with high- caliber weapons. This summer alone, three gay men were murdered in Mexico City, two gay men were murdered in Guadalajara, and a transvestite was beaten to death in Oaxaca. A coalition of 30 Mexican lesbian, gay, and AIDS groups have protested the murders and the way in which the police and press have responded to the incidents. Local police often refuse to investigate these murders, preferring to label them isolated crimes of passion between estranged lovers despite a striking degree of similarity among the cases. The International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) focused attention on the wave of anti-gay violence in Mexico with a demonstration at the Mexican embassy in Paris during ILGA's 14th annual convention, which was held in Paris this July. Mexican gay activists say that continued international pressure will help force the police and the Mexican National Commission on Human Rights to investigate the murders and take action to protect gays, lesbians, AIDS activists, transvestites, and prostitutes from continued violence. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Write to the following officials of the Mexican government and request a full investigation of the string of anti-gay attacks: President Carlos Salinas de Gortari Palacio Nacional Los Pino Mexico, D.F. Arsenio Farell Cobillas Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare Mexico, D.F. Francisco Gutierrez Barrios Secretary of Internal Affairs Bucareli Num. 99, 1 06699 Mexico, D.F. Ignacio Morales Lechuga Attorney General Paseo de la Reforma y Violeta 06300 Mexico, D.F. Ambassador Gustavo Petricioli Mexican Embassy 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20006 202-728-1600 voice 202-728-1698 fax Letters from the U.S. to Mexico require a 35-cent stamp. Please send copies of any letters you send or receive during this campaign to the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission at 540 Castro St., San Francisco, CA 94114.