On Sunday, July 1st, Mexico had a historic presidential election win with a landslide victory for leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador with 53% of the vote. López Obrador who is well known by his initials, AMLO, was mayor of Mexico City from 2000-2005 and had two previous unsuccessful campaigns for president. AMLO was part of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) where his anti-corruption platform begged social and economic change with focus on ending poverty. Mexico has seen the loss of over 200,000 citizens in a little more than a decade due to the corruption of law enforcement, the current administration, and the drug cartel. According to the Washington Blade, 30,000 people were murdered in 2017 alone.
This year’s victory for AMLO comes after creating the political party MORENA movimiento regeneración nacional (National Regeneration Movement) which demonstrates that Mexican citizens have had it with the status quo of corruption that has been occurring in the country for decades.
During AMLO’s victory speech, he spoke on the changes he wishes to bring to the people of Mexico. Within his progressive list, AMLO mentioned the rights of the LGBTQ community will be upheld and that “the state will represent all Mexicans…from all points of view and sexual preferences.”
AMLO is the first president to mention the LGBTQ community in his speech, although he did not run his campaign directly on expanding the LGBTQ agenda. Still, in a country where many of the homicides that occur surround LGBTQ individuals, this is great progress in opportunities of security and protection that could be on the horizon.
Recently, we have reported that Three Gay Men Were Shot and Killed After Being Taken From a Gay Bar in Guerrero and a Gay Couple Was Attacked by Police in Mexico. Under AMLO’s presidency, let’s hope horrible hate crimes such as these will end. And what else will this mean for the LGBTQ citizens of Mexico?
AMLO has also pledged to take a pay cut in order to assist with the economic development of the country.
h/t: Washington Blade
