Mexico Cleans Up Its Homophobic Lexicon Irene Monroe - The Huffington Post
go to original May 24, 2014

Last year, and to the surprise of many across the globe, Mexico stepped forward to define and reduce homophobic hate speech. Two commonly used words - "punal" and "maricones" - were the main targets. Both words closely translate as "f*ggot."

In a 3-2 vote, Mexico's Supreme Court ruled that these two homophobic hateful slurs are not legally protected in the country's constitution as freedom of speech. The high court further ruled that any citizen offended by these words now could seek redress by suing for moral damages.

"Even though they are deeply rooted expressions in Mexican society, the fact is that the practices of the majority of society can't validate the violations of basic right," the court wrote in support of its ruling.

But as most LGBTQ Latinos know, these two homophobic epithets are so frequently and easily espoused throughout Latin American culture that many are not cognizant of their deleterious effect.

Read the rest at The Huffington Post

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