Out and about in oaxaca

I've been a bit apprehensive about how 'out' David and I can be here in Mexico. It turns out that here in Mexico the federal government is actually more  progressive than our own.

I've been surprised to learn that here in Mexico, a country known for its strong catholic roots, in Oaxaca, the second poorest state, there are more progressive laws regarding LGBT rights than in my own state of Kentucky.

Here in Oaxaca state, same-sex marriages performed elsewhere are legally recognized, whereas in Kentucky they are not. Likewise while same-sex marriages performed in Oaxaca are not recognized, at least they are not banned, as they are in Kentucky.

Below is an article I found discussing the culture of acceptance of LGBT folks here, specifically transgenders, known as muxes (moo-shays)...


from The New York Times...

"...nowhere are attitudes toward sex and gender quite as elastic as in the far reaches of the southern state of Oaxaca. There, in the indigenous communities around the town of Juchitán, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight. The local Zapotec people have made room for a third category, which they call “muxes” (pronounced MOO-shays) — men who consider themselves women and live in a socially sanctioned netherworld between the two genders."

read more at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/weekinreview/07lacey.html?_r=0

Also this is an interesting video about muxes...