Mexican human rights and gay activist murdered
30 June 2005
On 21 June, Octavio Acuna Rubio, a psychologist and well-known local human rights and gay activist, was stabbed to death in his work premises in Queretaro, central Mexico. Octavio Acuna, who was 28, ran a city centre ‘Condoneria’ – a shop that sells condoms and provides information to the public about sexual health and sexual issues. A group of students, who were visiting the premises seeking information about sexually transmitted infections, discovered his body.
Local activists believe that Octavio’s murder is connected with his strong beliefs and commitment to fight publicly the discrimination that many people experience in Mexico because of their sexual identity. The previous week, Octavio had talked publicly about the lack of support towards sexual minorities shown by the State Commission for Human Rights in Queretaro.
Octavio’s death moved local academics and representatives of civil organisations to protest against violence in Queretaro, particularly against the violence that human right activists have been facing in Queretaro in the last four years.
Nadia Sierra Capos, legal representative of the Queretana Association for Sexual Education (AQUEDEX), to which Octavio belonged, said that she considered Octavio’s murder an act of homophobia. Octavio and his partner had previously experienced discrimination from local police when walking together in a public park. Octavio and his partner had presented a complaint against the local police to the State Commission for Human Rights in Queretaro (CEDHQ) for discrimination and homophobia but, because the local police authorities refused to give the full names of the police officers involved, the complaint was not upheld.
In a press conference on 23 June, gay community rights activists, women’s organisations, academics and human rights organisations made a public petition to the state attorney to treat the case objectively and not as a ‘crime of passion’ as has happened in the past. They also made a petition to Pablo Vargas Gomez, President of to the State Commission for Human Rights in Queretaro, to follow the investigation process and make sure that Octavio’s case is followed fairly and without discrimination from the police.
Octavio’s death demonstrates the discrimination and homophobia that members of sexual minority groups face in Mexico. Octavio worked for a number of HIV/AIDS organisations and sexual minority campaigns. He was involved with a new project fighting HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination organised by Colectivo Sol, an HIV/AIDS group and a local partner of the Alliance in Mexico. There is a great need for projects that deal with the reduction of stigma and discrimination towards gay and lesbian communities and people living with HIV/AIDS.
Stigma and discrimination projects in Mexico
The International HIV/AIDS Alliance has been supporting Mexican HIV/AIDS organisations for eight years now, strengthening their organisations and building capacity to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. USAID and other funders have supported the programme. Positive Action/GlaxoSmithKline support the current project against stigma and discrimination in four Mexican states, including Queretaro.
In a separate project in Mexico, in April the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination, (CONAPRED), the National Council for the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS (CONASIDA) and the Pan-American Health Organisation (OPS) launched a campaign against homophobia with the slogan ‘Homosexuality is not an illness, homophobia is’. The campaign consists of radio slots and aims to reduce aggressiveness, violence, stigma and discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities in up to 19 cities with high HIV/AIDS incidence. While this is a positive step towards mitigating the stigma and discrimination faced by people of sexual minorities, the case of Octavio Acuna Rubio demonstrates the need for more support to strengthen minority groups in Queretaro, a state not covered by the campaign.
