Mexico: Teacher fired for showing the pro-gay film Milk

in: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/12/10/mexico-teacher-fired-for-showing-film-the-pro-gay-film-milk/

Sean Penn plays the role of gay rights campaigner Harvey Milk

 

 

A middle school teacher in Mexico has been fired after screening the film “Milk”, which tells the story of legendary US gay rights campaigner Harvey Milk.

Cecilia Hernandez showed the first half-hour of the film to her 7th and 8th graders in the city of Cuajimalpa as part of an approved lesson plan addressing sexual orientation and discrimination.

The newspaper Proceso said the day after she showed the movie, Ms Hernandez was called into the principal’s office and fired.

In an e-mail, the principal called the Oscar-winning film “filth.”

The 2008 film, directed by Gus Van Sant stars Sean Penn as the late US gay rights campaigner Harvey Milk.

Elected as California’s first openly gay official, Milk was assassinated in 1978.

Meanwhile, Ms Henandez says she does not want her job back and has filed a complaint with the national discrimination board.

 

 

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/12/10/mexico-teacher-fired-for-showing-film-the-pro-gay-film-milk/

Gay journalist found dead in Mexico City

in: http://www.gaystarnews.com/

Armando Montano was just 22 and interning for the Associated Press

Armando Montano had begun a summer internship for the Associated Press in Mexico City less than a month ago.

On Saturday, the 22-year-old aspiring journalist from Colorado was found dead in the elevator shaft of an apartment building near where he was living.

Montano, a member of the National Association of Lesbian and Gay Journalists, was not on assignment at the time of his death.

Among the stories Montano had worked on during his time with the AP were the shooting of three federal policemen at the Mexico City airport and the saga of nine young elephants from Namibia who wound up on an animal reserve in Mexico’s Puebla state.

Marjorie Miller, the AP’s Mexico City-based Latin America editor said in a story by the wire service: 'Armando was a smart, joyful, hardworking and talented young man. He absolutely loved journalism and was soaking up everything he could. In his short time with the AP, he won his way into everyone’s hearts with his hard work, his effervescence and his love of the profession.'

The AP gig was the latest in a series of high-profile internships Montano had in recent years. He covered the Iowa presidential caucuses as a news intern for The New York Times worked as an intern covering policy and finance for The Chronicle of Higher Education in Washington, D.C.

Montano was to begin a master’s degree program in journalism at the University of Barcelona in the fall.

The investigation of his death is being monitored by the US Embassy.

http://www.gaystarnews.com/

Gay Couples Allowed to Marry at Mexican Resorts

http://www.edgeonthenet.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=international&sc2=news&sc3=&id=128361

Same-sex couples who are planning a trip to Cancun and other hot spots to the Mexican Caribbean will not only be able to soak up the sun but also have the opportunity to get legally married, reported Hispanically Speaking News in a Dec 29 article.

Thanks to a loophole in the civil code, vacationers from the U.S., Canada and Europe can legalize their unions.

"This market niche ... is very attractive for European, Canadian and American [homosexual] couples," said Patricia Novelo, a spokeswoman for Colectivo Diversidad, a LGBT organization.

Novelo also said that the first same-sex group wedding will take place in January and the event will also help promote human rights for the LGBT community. There are eight couples that will be married in January she said. Most of them are Mexican but she expects more couples from other countries to get married in these lucky destinations soon.

Quintana Roo, which includes Cancun, has not passed a law that legalizes same-sex marriages but because of a gap in the state’s Civil Code that does not specify the gender of individuals getting married, same-sex unions are legal.

Quintana Roo is located in Southeastern Mexico, and is bordered by the states of Yucatan and Campeche.

The marriages will help also boost the economy for Quintana Roo as well.

"[This] is something very positive," Novelo says. "Besides the social part there are many economic benefits because the gay community generates between 45 and 60 percent more income on top of conventional tourism."

LGBT rights in Mexico have made progress in the past few years. In 2003, a federal anti-discrimination law was passed and Amaranta Gomez became the first transgender woman to run for a seat in the Federal Congress.

In 2006, Mexico City legalized same-sex civil unions as did Coahuila the following year.

Transgender people were allowed to legally change their name, thanks to a law passed in 2008. Then, in 2009, Mexico City passed a legislation that legalized same-sex marriages and allowed gay couples to adopt.

México lança reality show LGBT para prevenir aids

http://paroutudo.com/2011/07/16/mexico-lanca-reality-show-para-prevenir-hiv/

Para ajudar a conscientizar a população gay e trans e prevenir o contágio pelo HIV, o Centro Nacional de Prevenção e Controle de HIV/Aids (Censida, na sigla em espanhol) do México financia uma ação bem diferente. Será utilizado um programa de tevê pelos qual os ocidentais vibram: um reality show.

São 13 participantes – 8 homossexuais e 5 transexuais – que estarão em “La Homofobia está out” (A homofobia está por fora). Todos são militantes pelos direitos LGBT e vão conviver por duas semanas na mesma casa com câmeras ligadas 24 horas por dia.

O vencedor receberá o título de embaixador do combate a homofobia 2012 da Censida e uma viagem a Espanha, onde irá trabalhar junto a uma entidade de direitos humanos.

Durante o programa, haverá provas e eliminações (como todo reality que se preza), mas também responderão dúvidas dos telespectadores sobre sexo seguro, discriminação e homofobia. Quer dar uma espiadinha? Clique aqui.