SUMMER 2019, PART 2-C: CALENDA MUXE

According to Pablo Céspedes Vargas, in his article Muxes at work: Belonging belonging between the community and heteronormativity, "what we know, from an occidental point of view, a man dressing like a woman, a trans man, or a gay man is included under the term MUXE as long as there is a strong Indigenous identity." 

In Zapotec cultures of Oaxaca (southern Mexico), specially in the istmo of Tehuantepec, a muxe (also spelled muxhe) is a person who is assigned male or female at birth, but who dresses or behaves in ways otherwise associated with the other binary gender; they may be seen as a third gender.Some marry women while others choose a man or other muxe as their spouse.

During one afternoon, while Miguel and I were getting ready to go to dinner, we heard music and fireworks very close to us. We finished getting ready as quickly as possible and decided to check out the commotion... because we knew a delegation was gathering near by.

To our surprise, the delegation gathering at the plaza near us was La Delegación de la Diversidad Sexual (The Sexual Diversity Delegation), known as the "Alliance for Sexual Diversity in Oaxaca State." As soon as we found out, Miguel and I were very excited for this was a delegation for queer people, for the MUXE of Oaxaca. 

We soon ask them permission to take pictures, which they gave us. We also asked them if we could pose with them; they said yes. 

The muxe wore incredible dresses, which represent the area where many of them come from, Tehuantepec. Other queer people either wore traditional Oaxacan male garments (white guayabera, white pants, huaraches, straw hat, and red handkerchief) or just regular clothing. 

Two things I find clever about the delegation are: 1)The banner, which has an image of Saint Sebastian, a catholic saint that has always been considered a homoerotic symbol and has been the subject of many gay theme stories and films, and the name of their music band "La mas querida" (The Most Loved), making reference to a very famous song by the later Juan Gabriel, Mexico's famous gay singer. 

There is a "play-on-words" with the title of the music band, which is clever, funny, and gay. Sorry, I'm not going to try to explain it. 

About 40 minutes after our arrival, and after the police checked that all permissions were in order, (yes, the police is always involved in the Calendas for they have to be in front and behind to keep traffic at bay), the calenda was about to begin, they invited us to join and joined we did. 

Enjoy:

NEXT: "DONAJI, THE LEGEND"