Mexico’s first publicly gay mayor Benjamín Medrano Quezada shot dead aged 59
Local media reported that he was shot several times in the face before the attacker fled the scene on a motorcycle
By Callum Wells
Benjamín Medrano Quezada, the first publicly gay politician elected mayor in Mexico, has been shot dead in the city of Guadalajara at the age of 59.
The former mayor of Fresnillo, in the northern state of Zacatecas, was killed last Tuesday (7 July) after leaving an ice cream shop in Guadalajara’s Santa Elena de la Cruz neighbourhood, according to Mexican authorities.
Local media reported that he was shot several times in the face before the attacker fled the scene on a motorcycle. Investigators have not announced a motive and no arrests have been confirmed.
Who was Benjamín Medrano Quezada?
Medrano made history in 2013 when he became the first publicly gay elected mayor in Mexico, winning office in Fresnillo as the candidate for the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He held this role until 2015 before serving a three-year term in Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies, representing Zacatecas’s first federal district.
A law graduate of the Autonomous University of Zacatecas, he had previously served in the Zacatecas state congress after beginning his political career as a city councillor in 1995.
In a statement following his death, Fresnillo City Council said: “We express our deepest condolences to their family and friends, respectfully accompanying them in this moment of grief and wishing them strength in the face of this irreparable loss. Rest in peace.”
Before entering politics, Medrano was a well-known performer in Zacatecas, recording albums of ballads and ranchera music. He also opened a gay bar in Fresnillo in 1994, becoming a prominent local businessman before moving into public office.
Why did he face controversy?
Medrano later faced legal proceedings over his time as president of the Board of Trustees of the National Fair of Zacatecas in 2019. In 2022, he was accused of embezzling more than 60 million pesos (£2.5 million) in public funds, and an arrest warrant was issued after he failed to attend a court hearing. However, Mundo Now reported that a judge overturned the warrant in 2025. Medrano’s family denied the allegations, claiming the case was politically motivated.
Although Medrano was one of the country’s most prominent openly gay politicians, his views frequently put him at odds with much of Mexico’s LGBTQ+ movement. A practising Catholic, he publicly opposed equal marriage, adoption rights for same-sex couples and Pride marches.
His killing comes amid continued violence against public officials in Mexico. Medrano is among a growing number of current and former politicians to have been killed in the country in 2026.
Recent victims include former Apaseo el Alto mayor Ignacio Alejandro Roaro Aguilar and municipal presidents Lilia Gema García Soto and Martha Laura Mendoza Mendoza.