Mexico’s first publicly non-binary magistrate found dead
"They were breaking through the invisible barriers that closed in the non-binary community"
Mexico’s first publicly non-binary magistrate and prominent LGBTQ+ activist has been found dead at home in Aguascalientes
Jesús Ociel Baena, who uses they/them pronouns has worked tirelessly in recent years to advocate for the rights of all LGBTQ+ people.
Mexico’s security minister, Rosa Icela Rodriguez, said the cause of death – which is now under investigation – was currently unknown.
“We don’t know yet … if it was a homicide or if it was some kind of accident,” she said during the president’s morning press conference.
“They were breaking through the invisible barriers that closed in the non-binary community”
Alejandro Brito, director of the LGBTQ+ rights group Letra S, explained how Baena often was the target of death threats on social media, and urged authorities to take this into consideration.
“They were a person who received many hate messages, and even threats of violence and death, and you can’t ignore that in these investigations,” Brito said, according to Associated Press.
“They, the magistrate, were breaking through the invisible barriers that closed in the non-binary community.”
The Aguascalientes state prosecutor’s office said in a statement that Beana’s body was found alongside someone else, who local media have named as their partner.
They said there was no preliminary evidence of third party involvement, and suggested the deaths could have been “a personal matter” in a statement.
Earlier this year, they were the recipient of Mexico’s first-ever non-binary passport, after it was introduced back in May.
“I am a non-binary person, I am not interested in seeing myself as a woman or a man,” Baena wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in June.
“This is an identity, it is mine and for me, for no one else.”
A vigil was held by LGBTQ+ activists for Baena in Mexico City on Monday (13 November) evening.