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Police – Accident – Death – Obituary News : MEXICO CITY (AP) — In a tragic incident that has sent shockwaves across Mexico, Jesús Ociel Baena, the first openly nonbinary person to assume a judicial position in the country, was found dead in their home on Monday. Baena, who resided in the central Mexican city of Aguascalientes, had been receiving death threats due to their gender identity, according to authorities.
The Aguascalientes state prosecutor’s office confirmed that Baena was discovered lifeless on Monday morning alongside another individual, who has been identified as Baena’s partner by local media and LGBTQ+ rights groups. State prosecutor Jesús Figueroa Ortega revealed in a news conference that the victims had sustained injuries seemingly inflicted by a knife or some other sharp object.
Investigations are currently underway to determine the nature of Baena’s death, with Mexico Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez stating that it is unclear whether it was a homicide or an accident. It is worth noting that some murder cases in Mexico have been hastily dismissed by authorities as crimes of passion, leading to concerns about the thoroughness of investigations.
Alejandro Brito, the director of LGBTQ+ rights group Letra S, emphasized that Baena’s active presence on social media made them a prime target for hate messages and threats of violence and death. Brito urged authorities to consider this context while conducting their investigation. “They, the magistrate, were breaking through the invisible barriers that closed in the nonbinary community,” Brito remarked.
Baena was one of the most prominent figures in the LGBTQ+ community in Mexico, a country where queer individuals are often subjected to violence. Even before their untimely demise, Baena had already received death threats. In October 2022, they made history by becoming the first openly nonbinary person to assume the role of magistrate for the Aguascalientes state electoral court. This groundbreaking achievement marked a significant milestone for the LGBTQ+ community in Latin America. Moreover, in June, Baena was among the first individuals to obtain Mexico’s inaugural nonbinary passports.
Baena’s commitment to their identity was evident through their social media presence, where they frequently shared photos and videos of themselves wearing skirts, heels, and proudly displaying a rainbow fan in court offices. With hundreds of thousands of followers across various social media platforms, Baena used their platform to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights.
In June, Baena boldly declared on X, formerly known as Twitter, “I am a nonbinary person, I am not interested in being seen as either a woman or a man. This is an identity. It is mine, for me, and nobody else. Accept it.” Just weeks before their tragic demise, Baena received a certificate from the electoral court recognizing them with gender-neutral pronouns, using the term “maestre.” This recognition was a significant linguistic step in a language historically divided into two genders, male and female.
While acknowledging Mexico’s progress in curbing anti-LGBTQ+ violence in recent decades, Brito expressed concern over a surge in such violence in 2019, with at least 117 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals killed in the country. These cases often involved brutal stabbings and public slayings. Brito fears that Baena’s death could potentially incite further acts of violence against queer communities.
“If this was a crime motivated by prejudice, these kinds of crimes always have the intention of sending a message,” Brito cautioned. “The message is intimidation, to say: ‘This is what could happen to you if you make your identities public.'”
The tragic death of Jesús Ociel Baena serves as a poignant reminder of the challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community in Mexico. As investigations continue, it is crucial that the authorities thoroughly examine the threats and hate messages Baena received, ensuring that justice is served for their untimely demise.
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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Megan Janetsky, The Associated Press.
