TRAging - Mexican Congress Protest, 21/02/23
In the center of Mexico City, the Mexican Congress’ Chamber of Deputies is a busy building characterized by its three ornate glass doors. But on 21st February 2023, it became known for a protest by transgender rights activists who would breach its grounds.
Throughout this writeup, please do note that many online posts and articles have been translated from Spanish into English via Google Translate, as I do not speak Spanish. Some things which you see may be roughly translated and could be inaccurate. If you speak Spanish and feel I have made a mistake, please do not hesitate to let me know.
Before
This story begins with América Rangel, a deputy of Mexico’s Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), or National Action Party. On 9th February 2023, she introduced a bill which sought to limit children’s’ access to “gender-affirming care”, such as opposite-sex hormones or double mastectomy. The initiative, under the name “Con los niños NO", would criminalize doctors who did give minors access to such treatments.
Rangel would further explain her reasoning for this bill on her website. “‘It is forbidden for a minor to alter his body with a tattoo, but we allow that same minor to alter his body by mutilating his penis, it is truly crazy.’” a rough translation reads.
This bill was met with mixed reactions, with both support and condemnation strong. Frente Nacional por la Familia (National Front for the Family), which defends the right of parents to educate their children, voiced support for this initiative. They would be joined by the likes of Catholic activist Dr. Raúl Tortolero, as well as Rangel’s everyday supporters. One notable figure, Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez, would come under fire for liking Rangel’s announcement on Twitter.
Backlash from transgender rights advocates was strong, however. Publication Ruido en la Red, Morena politician Salma Luévano Luna, activist and lawyer Ricardo Verdi, and others, would condemn Rangel’s initiative, with some labelling it as “dangerous”. One man would even go as far as to say Rangel was “vermin”, and another would call for her death.
Calls for a protest came from Victoria Sámano, a transgender-identifying man and self-described “whore” who heads Lleca, a “collective for the care of women and people of diversity who live on the streets or are at risk”. Lleca would also post the same call to protest on their official page.
The poster reads when translated: “Join the demonstration we cannot continue to allow hate speech that threatens our lives and denies our identities.” The protest was set to be held on Tuesday, 21st February 2023, at 10am local time (4pm UTC).
This date was likely chosen because the Mexico City Congress was set to hold a session on the 21st, beginning an hour before the protest was supposed to.
During
The protest started on schedule, quickly amassing a group of about a hundred attendees - though it’s unclear how many were protestors versus spectators. They quickly took to vandalization, spray-painting messages onto the steps and street outside of the building, as well as on the columns and doors. Near the end of this video, pink smoke can be seen in the air - presumably, the protestors have thrown a smoke bomb, due to its color. They can be heard shouting “Fuera Rangel”, or “Rangel out”, most likely a call for her to step down from her deputy position.
It’s around this time that Victoria Sámano addressed the crowd with a bullhorn, resulting in the chants of “Fuera Rangel” once again. The protest quickly turns dangerous, with a curly-haired man speaking to the attendees while Sámano begins to smash at the door with a pole. At one point in the speech, the words “puta puerta”, or “fucking door”, are audible, just before the speaker turns around to assist Sámano.
At some point between the two speeches, one of the protestors throws red paint over the doors, likely meant to symbolize blood. A thick fog said to be from a smoke bomb causes the crowd to momentarily flee while they’re attempting to break down the doors.
After the fog dissipates, the curly-haired man resumes smashing at his side of the door, creating a decently-sized hole through which the base of the pole falls. He continues to hit the glass with the end of the pole, knocking out a few chunks. This is the view outside of the building; at the end of the video, one of the protestors - likely Sámano - picks up a second pole an helps break the glass on the other side. The continued hitting against the iron bars likely weakened them, as Sámano and another protestor were able to wrench a segment of them away easily.
Sámano climbs in through the hole in the iron bars after this and immediately tries to head toward the back of the lobby, but is stopped by security. He gets into a scuffle with them as a second protestor attempts to climb through the gap in the door. As the second protestor is able to get into the lobby with Sámano’s help, a third attempts to follow, but is kept away by security and pushed back the way he came, all while someone flings a liquid at them. The clip ends with Sámano trying to push two of the security guards aside. An alternate angle of this video can be found here.
In this video, one of the protestors - likely the third one who was pushed back - attempts to climb into the lobby, and is sprayed with fire extinguisher foam. Sámano sees this and heads toward him intending to confront him, but is caught by another security guard. He and the other protestor in the lobby then attempt to hit some of the security, but fail. The video ends with the glass pane which Sámano and the other protester came in through being pushed back into place, preventing others from entering the lobby.
We soon see why Sámano and his friends wanted to break in so badly, when they are recorded attempting to enter doors at the back of the lobby - doors which likely lead to the chamber where the congressional session was being held at that moment. The pair are thankfully prevented from gaining access to the chamber, and are escorted back to the front of the lobby, where security is still spraying fire extinguisher foam into the crowd of protestors in an effort to keep them at bay. Sámano walks up to a man in a white shirt and pushes him over, resulting in several security guards spraying foam at him. After a brief altercation, the other protestor appears to be pulling on one of the doors, which is thankfully locked. Both glass panes now have extensive damage from protestors on the other side hitting them.
While this is going on inside, police in riot gear have arrived outside, confronting a (likely male) protestor in an orange shirt by the doors. At this moment, the glass pane in front of the door is reopened just long enough for Sámano’s buddy to leave the building the way he came in which can be seen at about 0:40 in this video. He is filmed outside the building seconds later as the police let him down the steps. Protestors can be heard shouting Victoria Sámano’s first name - he is not let out with his friend.
Not long after, he can be seen in the background of a video of protestors throwing rocks at the windows of the building. This was the same side of the building that Sámano would eventually be released from. He would release a statement through Lleca, alleging that security inside the building had beaten him. Whether or not this is true is unknown, but it’s worth considering that staff inside the building had been administering first aid to him, likely not long before his release.
Either during or after the protest, the congressional session which had been occurring at that time was suspended, and rescheduled for nine o’clock in the morning the next day. It appears as though security concerns were cited as the reason for the adjournment.
After
Shortly after the protest, América Rangel would state on her Twitter account that she was fine, thanking the congressional staff who kept Victoria Sámano and the other protestor away from her. “Fortunately I'm fine after a group of people tried to physically assault me in @Congreso_CdMex,” she wrote. “I thank the Congress staff for watching over my integrity at all times and thank you all for your messages. Violence is not and will never be the solution.”
This statement confirmed that Sámano’s goal was most likely to cause harm to Rangel in one way or another, though he was unable to breach the Congress any further than the lobby.
However, some of Rangel’s fellow lawmakers felt she was to blame for the protest - particularly deputy and activist Ana Francis Mor, who said: “Follow him [sic] sowing hatred América Rangel. It's the only thing they know how to do. What happened today in the Mexico City Congress weighs on your transphobic shoulders”.
“Do you see why América Rangel is so dangerous? Stop sowing hate. His [sic] hate kills,” she continued, even when presented with video of the transgender activists attempting to break into the Congress.
Of course, Ana Francis Mor wasn’t the only one trying to shift the blame onto Rangel. “Hate speech leads to hate crimes América Rangel is partly responsible for these attacks,” spoke one Twitter user. “Don’t confuse protest with violence,” wrote another. A third person asked “And when do you blame the incendiary words of América Rangel?” in response to another lawmaker supporting her.
Rangel did have her supporters, notably in the lawmaker mentioned above - Ana J. Villagrán. “THIS VIOLENCE IS UNACCEPTABLE,” she wrote in response to the protest. Someone else would say: “I do not agree with Congresswoman América Rangel, but her proposal should not be backed down with violence”.
The Mexico branch of International Women’s Declaration would speak out against the violence of the protest. The translated statement is below:
Mexico City on February 23, 2023
To public opinion:
At WDI-Mexico, we repudiate the events that occurred on Tuesday, February 21 in the CDMX Congress, when a group of gender identity activists forcibly entered the premises with the intention of attacking deputy América Rangel, because they were not in accordance with his [sic] bill to protect girls and boys from unnecessary medical interventions under the pretext that they have a "gender identity" that does not fit their body. Regardless of whether you agree with the terms of the proposal, it is alarming that the normal dialogue against women opposed to the transgender doctrine is increasing and is even being overlapped by some congresswomen.
Let us recall article 4 of the Declaration on the rights of women based on sex: (a) States must guarantee that no woman "may be harassed because of her opinions" (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - ICCPR -, article 19 (1)). This must include the right to hold and express opinions about “gender identity” without being subjected to harassment, prosecution or punishment.
As feminists, we see very clearly that the safety of a woman is above any ideological or partisan interest. No one should fear for their lives for expressing their opinions, much less for trying to defend the well-being of girls and boys.
However, Amnesty International’s Mexico chapter would “condemn the repression of the protest led by trans activists” in a statement released on Twitter two days after the protest occurred. The text of the two pictures included in the statement is below:
Mexico ranks second in murders of people from the LGBT+ community in the Americas, only below Brazil
We urge the authorities to promote respect for the human rights of the trans community, guaranteeing their equality and non-discrimination; as well as refrain from making stigmatizing statements against the people who demonstrate and constantly recognize and through the broadest means at their disposal, the legitimacy of social protest.
The Congress of Mexico City would release their own statement.
The Ordinary Session of the Plenary Session of the Congress of Mexico City on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, was suspended due to various acts of violence perpetuated by a group of protesters who spoke out against an initiative presented in the ordinary session dated 9 February of the current year.
The events occurred at approximately 11:00 a.m. outside the Legislative Campus when the protesters broke the windows of the offices of the PAN Parliamentary Group, painted paint on the building's façade, and forced the doors of the main entrance.
For security reasons, at 11:04 a.m. the President of the Board of Directors, Deputy Fausta Manuel Zamorano Esparza requested the support of citizen security in accordance with his legal power, later at 11:10 a.m., he called a recess from 10 minutes.
As the disturbance continued and after the entry of three protesters into the Legislative Precinct who attacked the security personnel, its members activated the internal protocol without violating any protester. During these events, one of the protesters suffered minor injuries due to a fall on the glass that the protesters themselves broke, leaving him on the ground.
Given these events, at 11:55 p.m., the Board of Directors declared the Ordinary Session suspended, in accordance with article 28 of the Regulations of the local Congress, and indicated that the activities will continue on Wednesday, February 22.
Once the immediate security needs were met, the deputy president Fausta Manuel Zamorano Esparza went to the medical service that is located inside the Congress, to supervise the care of the collaborators in the shelter area who suffered various injuries.
Victoria Sámano actually posted a video directly in response to this, in which he says: “I hold the CDMX government responsible for what may happen to me. Today congressional security personnel sprayed gas in my face, physically assaulted me, threatened me and deprived me of my liberty for an hour.”
The day after the protests, América Rangel shared that she had filed criminal complaints against the transgender activists who had broken into the building. She would also lash out at Amnesty International’s statement, saying: “A group of vandals committed the crime of sedition against the Legislative Power and attempted murder against me, but @amnistiamexico says that poor criminals. The apology of the crime of an international organization is incredible and irresponsible.”
The protest would receive much attention from Mexican media such as México Post and El Universal, as well as some coverage in the English-speaking world from The Daily Beast and Reduxx.
Miscellaneous
Trans activists and dissidents demonstrate in the
@Congreso_CdMex and demand:
1️⃣ Stop hate speech and misinformation about trans childhoods
2️⃣ Identity Law for trans childhoods
3️⃣ Derogation of the criminal type "danger of contagion" that criminalizes those living with HIV