LGBT literature in Mexico

Luis Zapata
Comic panel by José Guadalupe Posada about the Dance of the 41 scandal that took place in the homophobic novel Los cuarenta y uno (1906) by Eduardo Castrejón.
Carlos Monsiváis
Main articles: LGBT in Mexico and Mexican literature


LGBT literature in Mexico began to flourish beginning in the 1960s, but came into its own in the 1980s.[1] However, until then, homosexuality had rarely been addressed in literary works, except as something ridiculous, condemnable, or perverted, thanks to the homophobia that dominates Mexican society.[2] In 1975, the activist and theater director Nancy Cárdenas and the writers Carlos Monsiváis and Luis González de Alba published the first manifesto in defense of homosexuals, published in the magazine ¡Siempre! and, in 1979, they organized the first gay pride march.[3] Although some notable novels preceded it (like the 1964 El diario de José Toledo, "The Diary of José Toledo," by Miguel Barbachano Ponce),[4] the novel that marked a true change in direction regarding the scorn and silence around homosexuality was El vampiro de la colonia Roma by Luis Zapata Quiroz, published in 1978. After its publication, many authors had the courage to follow this path and take on the subject of homosexuality without reservations.[5] The 1970s then marked the beginning of a change in perspective in Mexican society with respect to homosexuality thanks to greater recognition and visibility of gay authors.[6]

The unique chronology of the homosexual novel reveals the strong movement of coming out of the closet [...]. It’s evident that the 70s have proven to be a watershed at least in regards to civil life.

— Antonio Marquet

Even so, these works predominantly dealt with masculine homosexuality; female authors and lesbian themes have seen far less representation,[5] despite the notable exceptions of the novels Amora by Rosamaría Roffiel and Infinita ("Infinite") by Ethel Krauze.[3] The debate about the existence of homosexual literature in Mexico has sometimes played out publicly in Mexican media, as happened after the publication of the essay Ojos que da pánico soñar by José Joaquín Blanco in Unomásuno.[7]

  1. ^ Guzmán, Nora (2009). "Todos los caminos conducen al norte | Fondo Editorial de Nuevo León" [All Roads Lead North: The Story of Ricardo Elizondo Elizondo and Eduardo Antonion Parra] (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-08-01.
  2. ^ Gutiérrez, León Guillermo (2009). "La ciudad y el cuerpo en la novela mexicana de temática homosexual" [The City and the Body in the Gay Mexican Novel]. Anales de literatura hispanoamericana (in Spanish) (38): 279–286. ISSN 1988-2351.
  3. ^ a b Muñoz, Mario (2011-03-31). "La literatura mexicana de transgresión sexual". Amerika. Mémoires, identités, territoires (in Spanish) (4). doi:10.4000/amerika.1921. ISSN 2107-0806.
  4. ^ Gutiérrez, León Guillermo (2012-10-23). "Sesenta años del cuento mexicano de temática gay" [Seventy Years of the Gay Mexican Short Story]. Anales de Literatura Hispanoamericana (in Spanish). 41: 277–296. doi:10.5209/rev_ALHI.2012.v41.40305. ISSN 1988-2351.
  5. ^ a b Luis Ulloa, El tema homosexual en la narrativa mexicana del siglo XX, 2007.
  6. ^ Marquet Montiel, Antonio (2001). ¡Que se quede el infinito sin estrellas!. La cultura gay al final del milenio. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (México). Unidad Azcapotzalco. División de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades.
  7. ^ "Temática gay en la literatura mexicana, de nivel inferior pero con momentos históricos vibrantes". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2024-08-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)