Sadly there is one less beautiful Mexican woman in the world: After she mysterious disappeared on Friday, the body of trans activist Agnes Torres was found in a ditch outside Puebla the following day.
According to local authorities Torres was found naked with burn marks across her body and her throat slashed, suggesting she was tortured.
The 28-year-old psychologist, educator, human-rights advocate and all-around bombshell had been leading the march for acceptance for trans folk in her native country.
News of Torres’ death spread quickly among LGBT activists in Mexico. On Monday, close to 2,000 people congregated outside Puebla’s civic plaza, seeking justice and demanding the murder be classified as a hate crime. Onán Vázquez Chávez, president of Vida Plena Puebla, a local LGBT group, told CNN Mexico that violence against queer individuals should not be treated as “crimes of passion” when there is clearly a “luxury of rage” involved.
Torres’ death marks the sixth act of violence against the LGBT community in Puebla just since January. Activists hope it will finally raise awareness of other unresolved crimes.
Although several local politicians from the PRD and Nueva Alianza parties have push for a thorough investigation, homophobia is still prevalent among Mexican politicos. Juan Pablo Castro, a member of the conservative PAN party, tweeted that Torres was known for preying on youth and that she deserved to die. Earlier, Castro created a stir when he referred to gay men as jotos (“faggots”) in opposing same-sex marriage to the legislature.
Photo via MySpace
Clockwork
Thank God we don’t live in Mexico
parasite eve
rip sister ur fights will always be continued …… we will fight till the end like what u did….and we will be accepted as woman…..not freaks thank you for everything
Ginasf
A more important question is, what part did local police or Federales play in this murder.?
parasite eve
@Ginasf: very true….i think mexico is a very homophobic country which is main reason why transsexuals struggles to go across the boarder illegaly
Oscar Raymundo
@Clockwork: Especially Mexico City where — oh wait — same-sex marriage is legal… Assumptions get us nowhere.
Oscar Raymundo
@parasite eve: Generalizing that an entire country is homophobic is counter-productive. There are a lot of open-minded people and hard-working activists who deserve credit, not just idle chatter.
Brooke Sullivan
Very sad n distrubing. Another lost and for what…ugh rip sista’
Clockwork
>Oscar Raymundo
My problem with Mexico is not homophobia, but violent corruption.
Armando
@Clockwork: Mexico isn’t that dangerous, it’s rare that the cities in the south are very dangerous. I live in the Border this means there is a constant drug war between Mexican Cartels.. It’s not all of Mexico.. It’s some parts. The U.S is probably even more dangerous just that some crimes aren’t released to the public.
Kelsey
@lala: pull your fucking head out of your ass, you ignorant scum. it’s not the fucking 60’s anymore. the LGBT community does not affect your life in any way whatsoever. your homophobia is probably just a cover up for yourself.
Sara
This is very sad indeed. As a Transperson I feel her pain very deeply. RIP my Lovely Sister. You will always be rememebered never will we forget you.
M
May she be welcome into the halls of her ancestors and her soul find peace.
Jordan
Rest in peace. Mexico is a beautiful country however the police, politicians, and people in power there are very corrupt and even my straight Mexican friends refuse to visit parts of the country anymore since it’s dangerous.
parasite eve
@lala: no ur not natural coz ur a bigot go praise kirk cameron and be both stupid hope u both die a very fatal death
Gretchen
May your soul find its way to the realm divine, and may all your ancestors guide you along the way. May your spirit find comfort, and may your body rest in peace. Blessed Be.
Gretchen
@Lala
Im probably wasting my time, but since I can type fast and have a minute, lets examine this concept of sexual/gender diversity being “unnatural”.
It has been proved time and time again that WE are part of the natural range of human experience and genetics. what you consider to be against nature has been practiced by our animal ancestors since the dawn of time. Watch a documentary about dolphins or bonobos, then try to argue that they and every other animal species that changes gender and practices sexual freedom is also against nature. Likewise before the birth of christian fundamentalism, gender and sexual diversity was found all over the world in almost every tribal and shamanic culture, all of which had a more sustainable and sane worldview then people like you who are blinded by their hate and willfull ignorance.
It also never ceases to amaze me how such people love to talk about whats “against nature” as long as its convenient for their agenda, but when it comes to preventing mass extinction thru sane ecological practices, suddenly “whats natural” goes out the window.
Adele
extremely sad news. can i also suggest that maybe this article could be more respectful in how it speaks about her? “one less beautiful mexican woman in the world” and lining up her “bombshell-ness” next to her other formidable credentials unintentionally normalizes the kind of reductionism and sexualizing gaze that contributes to violence against women. i mean, we can see from the picture that she was totally gorgeous and it might be appropriate to mention she will be remembered as such. sorry if this is written by someone close to her. i just hope we can be more respectful.