The Catholic Church and conservative politicians have launched aggressive local and national campaigns for "family values" and sexual abstinence, and against condom use. This offensive has shaped the embattled debates and activism around sexual politics in Mexico. Activists in Mexico nstrate in of the U.S. ssy during ational AIDS 1993. The heads "Silence th." As part of his package of reforms to modernize Mexico, former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari approved an amendment in 1992 to Article 130 of the Constitution to strengthen freedom of religion. The primary beneficiary was the Catholic Church, whose public presence is now legally protected by the Constitution. Despite the official separation of church and state that has existed in Mexico since 1917, the Church has always been a powerful player in Mexican politics, especially where sexuality is con- cerned. But these reforms represent an important recon- figuration of the political arena to the extent that they institutionalize the Church's role as an overt and inde- Marta Lamas is an anthropologist in the Gender Studies Program at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She is director of the journal, debate feminista, and of the Information Group for Reproductive Choice (GIRE), an NGO based in Mexico City. Translated from the Spanish by Mark Fried. pendent political force in Mexican society. The Church now has legal access to the media, which it has used to disseminate its positions on a wide array of social issues. Its leaders have also joined forces with conserv- ative political leaders, particularly from the National Action Party (PAN), and launched aggressive local and national campaigns for "family values" and sexual abstinence, and against con- dom use. This offensive of reactionary forces has had powerful effects on the political landscape and has largely shaped the embattled debates and activism around Mexican sexual politics in recent years. As far as sexuality in Mexico is concerned, the twen- tieth century did not begin until the 1970s. 1 This at least partially explains why the explicit and implicit rules about sexuality stink of the nineteenth century, and why the discussions about modern sexual identities and prac- tices are so backwards. The Catholic Church has played a crucial role in keeping the debate on sexual politics in its pre-modern state. From 1917 to 1992, the Church had no legal status in Mexico. The liberal and socialist cur- rents within the Mexican Revolution led to anti-clerical laws that went far beyond establishing the separation of church and state. The lay legislation enshrined in the 1917 Constitution dramatically circumscribed the pres- ence of the Catholic Church in the public arena. These laws were vehemently rejected by both the Vatican and VOL XXXI, No 4 JAN/FEB 1998 17REPORT ON SEXUAL POLITICS the Mexican Church hierarchy, prompting "La Cristada," a peasant uprising instigated by the bishops between 1926 and 1929. The civil war came to an end with an agreement that guaranteed the flexible applica- tion of the anti-clerical statutes. The "nonaggression pact" signed in 1929 and consolidated over the next decade ensured a margin of "tolerance" for the Church and allowed, for example, the opening of private schools for religious education. In many ways, through these agreements the state also handed the regulation of daily life over to the Church, including everything related to the family and sexuality. 2 This explains why all local and federal battles over sexuality have focused on the same issue-whether to affirm or question tra- ditional Catholic morality. A woman exar These battles have been anti-abortion / fought on many fields, a ture inside a cd result not only of Mexico's in Tuxt/a Gutih Me cultural diversity but of its uneven socio-economic development. Al- though the Church has always enjoyed a substantive role in Mexican society, its constitutionally mandated marginality contributed to a certain moderation of its public presence. Nuns and priests could not walk the streets in habits and collars, for example, and the Church was prohib- ited from holding assets. Most impor- tantly, its public statements and actions had to be controlled and measured. During its period of "illegality." the Catholic Church never stopped making statements or pressuring the government. But today it enjoys the free- dom to move beyond rhetoric to active public cam- paigns that border on intimidation and blackmail. Over the past few years, members of the hierarchy have made statements on sexual issues that are irresponsible and ignorant, even criminal. Most recently, the Primate Archbishop of Mexico, Norberto Rivera, declared dur- ing a mass in the cathedral that condoms were harmful to one's health and ought to carry an explicit warning like cigarettes and alcohol. 3 The Salinas reforms have empowered the Church to launch prime-time mass- media campaigns about anything with which it takes offense. It does so, moreover, not only from the pulpits and confessionals as was always the case, but in con- junction with important businessmen and the owners of television stations, newspapers and radio stations. The political and economic power of Catholic groups to promote a sexist and homophobic agenda is worri- some. Arrogantly asserting itself as the only moral rep- resentative of Mexican society, the Catholic hierarchy uses its influence and economic power to promote its sexual policies via the religious organizations of the wealthy, like Opus Dei, the Legionaries of Christ and the Knights of Columbus. It also exerts pressures through the organizations it controls, like the National Parent Association or the National Pro-Life Committee. Especially dangerous is the influence of the hierarchy's business allies in the Opus Dei, whose members use their economic clout to influence the media. For exam- ple, Domecq distillery and the Bimbo bread company threatened to pull their advertisements if television sta- tions aired a public-service announcement of the National AIDS Council (CONASIDA) in which Lucia M6ndez, a prominent national actress, appeared promot- ing condom use. The owner of Bimbo made the same threat to Channel 40 if they broadcast the accusations of child molesting against Marcial Maciel, founder and leader of the Legionaries of Christ. f the Church's offensive since the 1991 reforms has been spectacular, so has the government's retreat. The best example is the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP), which is in charge of providing rudi- mentary sexual education in the public schools. SEP has been the target of an aggressive campaign waged pri- marily in the media. A book on sex education for ado- lescents and for training high-school teachers set off a storm of accusations. What irritated conservatives was that the book recognized that sexual values depend on the norms that are accepted within a given society- arguing, in effect, that there is nothing "natural" about dominant views of sexuality. Another problem was that it spoke clearly and directly about the consequences of sexual relations and mentioned both birth and abortion as possible outcomes of pregnancy. This was interpreted as promoting abortion, and the National Parents NACLIA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS 18REPORT ON SEXUAL POLITICS Association, an affiliate of the Ibero-American Parents Association, denounced SEP for "inciting young people into licentious behavior." The headlines were ferocious. "Parent organizations demand removal of books that incite licentious behavior and harm Mexican morals," proclaimed El Heraldo. 4 "Leaders of parent organizations criticize the inclusion Homophobia and sexism tinge much of Mexican intellectual production, distorting political discourse and impeding the construction of a rigorous intellectual foundation for nondiscriminatory policies. of images inappropriate for children that border on the most vulgar pornography," screamed La Jornada. 5 And Excelsior stated, "SEP distributes a book that borders on pornogra- phy." 6 Although the authors of the book re- sponded some days later, their statements were relegated to letters to the editor section, and did not have the impact of the original news sto- ries. The SEP itself, fol- lowing the ostrich-like policies so common to the governing Insti- tutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), chose to remain silent, revealing its cowardly reluctance to confront the Catholic hierarchy. The Parents Association took aim at sex-education programs, and pressed for the "expulsion" of the Mexican Foundation for Family Planning, a Planned Parenthood-type organization, from certain states. They achieved just that in San Luis Potosi in June, 1992, and managed to scare other states into abandoning their sex- education programs. The government's response gave aid and comfort to these reactionary views. Fear of con- fronting the Church has also led the government to excuse statements from the Vatican's official representa- tive that would have sent any other diplomat packing. When the Papal nuncio, Justo Mullor, spoke out against public education last October, the Ministers of the Interior and of Foreign Relations were quick to forgive him. They were not so generous a few weeks earlier when Canadian ambassador Marc Perron made compar- atively mild statements against corruption, which led to his resignation. 7 Amidst these intimidation tactics, there is a notable absence of public figures who are willing to confront the sexism and homophobia of the Church and its allies. This is in part a product of the intellectual backwardness that characterizes discussions of sexuality. But it is also a reflection of the state of intellectual debate in Mexico. More than 15 years have passed since the first gender research and study programs were established in Mexico, but serious engagement with feminist thought remains scarce in academic circles. Despite a recent flowering of critical thinking seeped in post-structuralist perpectives, few on the Mexican intellectual circuit have any interest in feminist or gay thought. The body and sexuality are accorded relevance as subjects of reflec- tion and research, but there is little academic work on lesbianism or homosexuality, nor is there any sort of engagement with queer theory. Several major research projects have been structured on the mistaken assump- tion of the "natural" heterosexuality of those being stud- ied. The consequences of this heterosexist bias can be seen in the content of university curricula, including graduate studies, and in the homophobia that tinges much of Mexican intellectual production. Such homo- phobia and sexism, in turn, distort political discourse, impeding the construction of a rigorous intellectual foundation for nondiscriminatory sexual policies. Public challenges to the government's policies have come from feminist and gay activist groups, some intel- lectuals and a handful of media figures. Worthy of men- tion here are Carlos Monsiviis, the most important cul- tural critic on Mexican sexuality, feminist commentators like Ver6nica Ortiz, who has a weekly TV program on sexuality, and Patricia Kelly, who runs a radio show on the same topic. A well-known gay actor, Tito Vasconcelos, also has an alternative program on the radio station of the Secretariat of Public Education where the gay population can express its concerns. In terms of political visibility, however, the response has been weak. A few gay groups have managed to achieve a public presence, but only through their AIDS-related work. 8 Their struggle against homophobia has been largely ignored. Ongoing raids against gays, and the evi- dent lack of interest in the murders of transvestites and prostitutes are clear expressions of the government's approach. The absence of a gay movement with eco- nomic power and a strong political presence creates the circumstances in which savage homophobic repression can continue with impunity. The left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), which recently won the mayoral seat in Mexico City, has been relatively absent from public campaigns against sexism and homophobia. Sexual politics is still seen as a secondary issue, below the serious problems of poverty, misery and disempow- erment. Although some notables have taken progressive stances, most PRD representatives remain backwards machos. The situation is also compounded by the lack of activism among gay youth. According to Monsivdis, VOL XXXI, No 4 JAN/FEB 1998 19REPORT ON SEXUAL POLITICS many young homosexuals in Mexico City have found a certain degree of acceptance by adopting a "gay" iden- tity, suggesting that the semantic impact of the word "gay" creates a social space of tolerance. To be gay is to become part of an international movement, moving from a problem-ridden condition to an extravagant but "mod- ern" lifestyle. This appears to dissolve prejudice, which in turn erodes the motivations for activism. Many urban gays are not interested in thinking about the absence of a rights-based culture, and much less in taking action to change the situation. Some reject activism because they associate it with sectarian gay-liberation groups or with leftist politics. Others simply want to live their lives and not be bothered by politics. Compared to gay groups, the feminist movement appears well established. Yet despite the mobilizations of the 1970s-which made feminists a political force to be reckoned with-the movement has not created a political alternative for most Mexican women. The pop- ular women's movements that grew out of the 1985 earthquake, on the other hand, did become a vehicle of participation for many. But the demands that mobilized these women steered clear of sexual questions, despite the fact that they are the ones who suffer most from sex- ual double standards, the lack of sex education, and the criminalization of abortion. The few middle-class femi- nists groups that have taken progressive stances on sex- uality have often been stigmatized as "libertines" for doing so. In fact, feminists have defended the freedom of sexual choice since 1976, when the Feminist Women's Coalition was created. But homophobia is rampant among many feminists, and is especially visi- ble in the movement's constant battle to keep itself from being identified with lesbianism. he growing interference of the Church in the pub- lic arena has gone hand in hand with the electoral victories of the PAN in several states. With a pseudo-democratic rhetoric that denounces the corrup- tion and authoritarianism of the ruling party, the PAN has won municipal and gubernatorial races in several states. Soon after its first triumphs, PAN governments launched moralizing initiatives in various states. In Chihuahua, for example, the PAN reformed the state Constitution to defend life "from the moment of con- ception." In other states, party officials that are allied with the Catholic hierarchy have supported arbitrary actions such as prohibiting state employees from wear- ing mini-skirts in Jalisco, shutting down a photography exhibit of nudes in Aguascalientes, and striking the name of Juurez, the president who decreed the separa- tion of church and state, from a street in the state of Mexico. In Guanajuato, at the request of the bishop, the mayor blocked a conference on abortion by Catholics for a Free Choice and the Information Group for Reproductive Choice (GIRE). If these initiatives weren't so dangerous, they would be comical. As such sexist and homophobic initiatives have spread, many citizens have come to associate the PAN with out-dated authoritarian moralizing. 9 In the 1997 elections for mayor of Mexico City, the openly anti- condom and anti-abortion PAN candidate, Castillo Peraza, dragged his party to defeat. One of his mistakes was to write an insidious article against condom use, arguing that latex pollutes the environment.10 While it is safe to presume that the more offices PAN wins, the more absurd policies we will see, it is equally probable that Mexicans will reject moralistic restrictions from a Church and a political party that are increasingly out of touch with their needs and desires. The growing distance between these conservative sectors and average Mexi- cans was revealed in the aftermath of the Fourth World Conference on Wo- men in Beijing in 1995. The PAN and the Mexican Bishops launched a smear campaign against the gov- ernment for signing the final Beijing Accords, and attempted to frighten people with lies. They claimed that the government had em- braced the decriminaliza- tion of abortion, that it had endorsed homosexual and lesbian families and their right to adoption, that it called for banning the word "mother," and that it had commited itself to promot- ing the use of contracep- Mass culture may counter the puritanism of political and religious elites, but it directs people away from political activity. Pleasure, rather than politics, becomes the desired way to spend free time. tives from the age of 11 without parental consent. To combat these alleged horrors, the Bishops Conference called on the Catholic community of the archdiocese of Mexico to make a pilgrimage to the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe "for life and the family."" Despite the power of these lies, however, the pilgrimage did not attract the expected crowds. This incident reflected changing public attitudes about sexuality and the fact that many Mexicans have more liberal and tolerant views than the conservative groups who govern them. These changes are the result of "the cultural internationalization of the country, the rise in secondary and university education, general sec- ularization built on tolerance, and the dissemenation of NACIA REPORT ON THE AMERICASREPORT ON SEXUAL POLITICS feminist principles." 1 2 The international culture industry, for example, has wrought sig- nificant changes in the value systems of Mexicans, espe- cially among the poorer sec- tors of society. Images from popular music as well as from U.S. films and televisions programs have eroded tradi- tional prohibitions by provid- ing new perspectives on the worlds of sexuality and repro- duction. Some of these con- tradict traditional values and encourage more open and less guilt-ridden sex lives for both women and men, gay and straight. A young cp Yet despite the march to dec fact that con- nalize abortic sumer culture Mexico provides a tremendous counterweight to the recent onslaughts of puritanical rhetoric, it very often reinforces the existing sexism and homophobia in society. What is more, while the influence of mass cul- ture may counter the puritanism of political and reli- gious elites, it generally directs people away from polit- ical activity. Pleasure, rather than politics, becomes the desired way to spend free time. This is clearly visible among youth in Mexico City, where the impact of New Age culture is widespread and where rock music pro- vides an important cultural space for sensory and exis- tential release. 1 3 Despite the obstructions put up by the Catholic Church and its political allies, respect for sexual diver- sity is slowly gaining ground, at least among certain generational and progressive groups. A notable example are the Zapatistas. The philosophy of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) revolves around the ideal that "everything should be shared evenly." This has opened possibilities for apparently freer sexual behavior such as marriage and divorce by mutual agree- ment and the undermining of traditional sex roles among combatants as women reach positions of author- ity. 1 4 And while no other political figure has openly acknowledged the legitimacy of the struggle for sexual diversity, Subcomandante Marcos offered public con- gratulations to Patria Jim6nez, a PRD congresswoman, for defending lesbian and gay rights.15 The absence of sex education and government campaigns against the spread of HIV are clear indicators that the political elite sees sexuality as high-risk political terrain. When Mexicans seek sexual freedom, they confront the vast difference between their desires and the reality of the country. New perspectives on sexuality have broadened the horizons of love, relationships and family, but the absence of sex educa- tion and legal abortion, and the difficulties in obtaining con- doms and other contraceptive methods impede the free exer- cise of sexual and reproductive rights.16 Unwanted pregnancies result not only in hundreds of thousands of abortions each year, but also in thousands of unwanted children. These ba- bies, once welcomed as old-age insurance, are increasingly per- ceived as punishment in a soci- ety that offers no support in the difficult task of child-rearing. There is growing awareness that public participation and legislative representation will be needed to overcome these barriers. People's desire for democratization at the local and national level is and will remain an important factor in facilitat- ing discussion about sexual and reproductive rights. The collective work of feminist and gay groups who labor to contain the conservative tide is crucial in this struggle. This includes organizations like Catholics for a Free Choice, the Mexico City Women's Health Network, GIRE, Sor Juana's Closet, Letter S and the Gay Cultural Circle. Outside Mexico City, other groups are active, such as Patlatonalli in Guadalajara, Embrace in Monterrey, Fight in Tijuana, the Rosario Castellanos Women's Center in Oaxaca and the San Crist6bal Women's Group in Chiapas. A new political group called DIVERSA is attempting to implement a rain- bow-coalition model to promote the defense of sexual diversity, which it sees as a political means to achieve full citizenship and democracy. These efforts to ques- tion the infallibility of Church authorities and the usu- ally willful blindness of government and party officials have posed fundamental challenges to obsolete under- standings of sexuality. But if sexual rights are to become part of the aspirations of Mexican women and men for full citizenship, they must be formulated polit- ically and placed on the public agenda of political par- ties and the government. If Mexicans are to fully and freely exercise their rights to reproductive choice and sexual freedom, values themselves must also be assigned new meanings. Scenes from a Mexican Battlefield 1. Carlos Monsivais, personal communication, October 20, 1997. 2. Carlos Monsivdis, personal communication, October 20, 1997. 3. Statement reprinted by La Jornada (Mexico City), August 25, 1997. 4. El Heraldo (Mexico City), February 11, 1994. 5. La Jornada (Mexico City), February 11, 1994. 6. Excelsior (Mexico City), February 11, 1994. 7. See Proceso, No. 1093 (October 12, 1997), pp. 22-29. 8. The monthly supplement, "Letra S," published by La Jornada, has provided extensive coverage of these organizations. 9. See the weekly column, "Por mi madre bohemios," by Carlos Monsivais and Alejandro Brito in La Jornada. 10. Castillo Peraza, "Reflexiones condoecol6gicas," Proceso (March 20, 1997). 11. Statement No. 95/33 (September 26, 1995). 12. Carlos Monsivbis, "De c6mo un dia amaneci6 Pro Vida con la novedad de vivir en una sociedad laica," debate feminista, No. 3 (September 1991). 13. Carlos Monsivais, personal communication, October 20, 1997. 14. See Guiomar Rovira, Mujeres de maiz (Mexico City: Era, 1997). 15. Patria Jimenez, personal communication, April 6, 1997. 16. In some cities, such as Guadalajara, conservative pharmacy own- ers refuse to sell condoms because they are prohibited by the Catholic Church.
