Date: Thu, 2 Feb 1995 09:52:51 -0800 (PST) From: Rex Wockner Subject: PESO DIVE THREATENS TIJUANA GAY INSTITUTION Copyright (c) 1995 Rex Wockner and affiliates. All rights reserved. ****** Tijuana's Emilio's Will Likely Close Peso Dive May Increase Crime Against Gays by Rex Wockner Emilio's Cafe, a de facto community center for Tijuana gays for 14 years, will probably be closing. It remains open this month thanks only to an infusion of cash from a member of owner Emilio Velasquez's family. The cafe -- the second floor of which houses Tijuana's gay newspaper, Frontera Gay, a gay hotline and a number of gay and AIDS groups -- has suffered a decrease in customers (most of whom are straight) and was hit hard by the December devaluation of the peso from 3.4 to 5.5 per dollar. Velasquez's lease requires he pay the rent in dollars, a common situation in Tijuana. "It's going to be a loss for the gay community in Tijuana because this has been a meeting center for many gay and lesbian people and the place where different groups were born," said Frontera Gay Editor Max Mejia. "For many gay people and AIDS people, Emilio's has been the first place they found solidarity or help. "The paper is not going to die," Mejia said. "We have always survived on miracles. At the worst, we'll be in somebody's apartment." "This has been a drop-in center for gays, lesbians, people with HIV or AIDS, transvestites and transsexuals," said Velasquez. "I was about to break even with paying back taxes and everything that was pending when the devaluation came. I pay $880 a month but at the new exchange rate now. It's a really difficult situation and there's no support from the community. I've always been basically on-my-own. Nobody's offered any help. "It's going to be a loss for the community," Velasquez said. "It's going to be very difficult to find anybody who has the vision and the willpower to try and maintain a direction toward creating a gay and lesbian community-services center, which was our idea from the start." Meanwhile, Mejia believes the devaluation in the peso and the accompanying economic crisis also will lead to increased crime in the Tijuana gay community. Many Mexican gay men -- perhaps up to half -- economically support non-gay-identified boyfriends or lovers, and now many will not be able to do so, Mejia said. "Many gay men support straight men or bisexual men," Mejia said. "They make a connection with you and you have a sort of relationship with them and the gay men buy things for them. In a way, it's like a straight couple. Many gay people economically help bisexual or straight men who hang around with them as lovers or whatever. They take care of them. How can we continue taking care of all those straight men? I'm serious. There is no developed hustler mentality here to deal with this in a clear way, so many relationships are still very mixed with money. It's not straightforward prostitution, but a twisted way of getting money from you." == end ==