Mexico's First Openly Gay Mayor Elected in the Unlikely State of Zacatecas Mark Stevenson - Associated Press
go to original July 19, 2013

Medrano will become mayor of a municipality where, in his words, "there are 258 villages full of tough country people, who don’t necessarily have much information on what’s happening elsewhere, and have even less of an automatic sympathy with their gay mayor." (Twitter/Benjamin Medrano)

Mexico's first openly gay elected mayor is set to take office in a rough part of Zacatecas state known for cowboy boots, embossed belts and drug gang shootouts.

Benjamin Medrano, a 47-year-old singer and gay bar-owner, says he is proud to be openly gay and rights groups say his victory in the city of Fresnillo's July 7 election marks a significant point in the fight for gay rights.

They add that it is too early yet to declare victory and Medrano, who takes office in September, acknowledges that he was the target of a malicious phone-calling campaign in which his political rivals "tried to smear me, as if being gay were a crime."

Zacatecas is a largely rural state with a reputation for cowboy hats and macho swagger, one of last places in Mexico that seemed likely to elect a gay mayor.

Read the rest at ABC News

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