“At first I thought the child was only playing,” says photographer and journalist Manuel Rodriquez, who captured the exact moment a 12-year-old boy leapt in front of a crowd of 11,000 people protesting the proposed same-sex marriage law in Mexico.
Related: This Is The Best Way To Ridicule Homophobes Who Protest Pride Festivals
Talking to Regeneración, Rodriquez explains that when he asked the anonymous boy what he was doing, the child responded, “I have an uncle who is gay. And I hate that people hate.”
A proposal by President Enrique Pena Nieto’s would finally introduce same-sex marriage to the country.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Related: PHOTOS: Russian Activists Hold Kiss-In to Protest IKEA’s Antigay Purge
The demonstration was organized by the (unfortunately named) National Front for the Family, an organization that’s against same-sex marriage. They’ve also collected 10,000 signatures of people against the proposal.
The surreal scene took place in the streets of Celaya.
Bauhaus
To all anonymous, anti-gay, mascholes:
This boy is what courage looks like.
Baba Booey Fafa Fooey
Good for him.
Sluggo2007
So, what happened? Did he stop the protest or did they trample him? I’m not surprised that many Mexicans would protest same-sex marriage. Most all of them are Catholic, the most hypocritical, homophobic religion of them all. I’m surprised one of their priests didn’t try to hit on the kid.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
Iconic
Ukin Blome
This child has the courage the one specific self loathing self hating user on this site does not have.
ErikO
Good for him.
ChrisK
This is like the Chinese guy standing in front of the tank in Tiananmen square.
glennmcbride
The translation is not very accurate; the child was quoted as saying he has a gay uncle and “y no me gusta que lo odien”. (I don’t like it that they hate him).
Ogre Magi
This kid is way more of a hero than that bomb clock boy
Cyn
A 12 year old. Awesome. The photo reminds me of the Tianamen tank man.
odawg
@Ogre Magi: That’s a random connection to make.
Chris
I say we invite him to be grand marshall at one or our many prides. There’s hope for this world.
jason_evans
This young man has a hundred times more courage than your average queen sitting in front of his computer.
Realitycheck
That Boy is a real man! There is a lot to be learned from that boy!!
scotshot
@jason_evans:
It’s rather silly to make blanket generalizations about a group of people you honestly don’t know -especially while you’re sitting in front of your computer with a large bag of Cheetos and a Big Gulp.
smh
Kieran
@Sluggo2007—-We wouldn’t have gay marriage as the law of the land in the US if not for the vote of Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Catholic Republican.
Tête Carrée
@jason_evans: @scotshot:
…and your purse and tiara.
Marcudemus
Dammit, Queerty. The last name is spelled “Rodriguez” with a G. This is the third time I’ve seen you misreport another journalist with that same last name in only the past few months.
Alistair Wiseman
The power of one! Awesome picture.
Same sex marriage is now legal in Mexico City and nine of Mexico’s thirty-one states.
gaym50ish
@Marcudemus: Marcudemus, that isn’t necessarily true. The spelling of Rodriquez with a “q” is a common variation, and so is the spelling with an “s” at the end instead of a “z” (which usually indicates Portuguese origin rather than Spanish).
Patrick Van Der Ven
This boy reminds me of the Chinese student who stood in front of tanks at Tiannamen Square in Beijing during pro democracy demonstrations of the 90s. This photo should be just as iconic as that in our world wide struggle for equality.
Sluggo2007
@Kieran: You act as if his vote, alone, brought about legalization of gay marriage. You are sadly misinformed.
GayEGO
@Sluggo2007: A priest probably did and he is peeking at the kid from the closet. You may have seen the movie “Spotlight” about the news media efforts to expose the Catholic Church in Boston that had several priests caught molesting young boys back in the 1970s.
GayEGO
@Alistair Wiseman: That is how Marriage Equality advanced in the USA. My lifetime partner of 54 years got married in Massachusetts where we lived in 2004 when it was made legal. After that, other states joined us and in 2013 SCOTUS overruled section 3 of DOMA, allowing Federal benefits to be given to us such as filing our taxes jointly. Last year, in 2015, SCOTUS made same-gender marriage the law of the land. We still have some states that squawk about it, claiming that the law is against traditional marriage between a man and a woman, but they are losing as lawsuits by our LGBT organizations are smacking them down.
Kieran
@Sluggo2007 Not misinformed at all. Reagan SC appointee Anthony Kennedy held the deciding vote on legalizing gay marriage. If Justice Kennedy had voted No we would have been half-slave half free in the US.
Anthony Kennedy is an Irish-Catholic Republican. So take your slimey anti-Catholic bigotry and shove it.
dwes09
@Ogre Magi: “This kid is way more of a hero than that bomb clock boy”
That kid stood up to xenophobia of the kind you demonstrate so clearly with your comment. Hate and ignorance are hate and ignorance regardless of who they are directed towards!
dwes09
@GayEGO: ” That is how Marriage Equality advanced in the USA.”
Mr Wiseman may well think we achieved marriage equality through right wing magical thinking, despite the obstacles placed in its way by liberal obstructionists. That’s how his mind works.
We owe much social progress to justices who can successfully divorce their personal beliefs from the matter at hand, and rule on the belief in a living constitution (unlike Scalia did, by contrast).
Goforit
@Kieran: Just because one justice chose to put his sworn duty to his office and his countries constitution before his faith does not make the Catholic religion (or any religion in my opinion) any less slimy.
Sluggo2007
@Goforit: Thank you Goforit. And Kieran, why you shove your Bible where it will do you the most good.
Jack Meoff
What would all the straight boy chasing queens with internalised homophobia do if there were not straights to lust after?
sapnasabkirani6
He is one man leader, one man army to lead, great courage
http://www.kajri.in