Super! I know a gay man from Mexico who left because they were against gays there. This is definite good news and a nice Christmas gift for all.
Depends upon which part of Mexico. 'Mericuhns have such a distorted and outdated view of Mexico that I've yet to meet anyone, except for Mexicans, who knows that Mexico is generally a gay-friendly country. Just as one wouldn't expect to have the locals embrace the rainbow flag in central Alabama and Mississippi (just pickin' places that sound back-woodsy), you're not going to receive the blessing of locals in small agricultural pueblos and some States in Mexico. However, Mex. D.F. -- even after the major incident known as the 41s back in the 1940s when the mayor decided to go anti gay by arresting a bunch of men and their drag consorts at a famous local bar -- Mex. D.F. was still a very open and out city for gays from all over the world.
By the mid 1960s it was once again possible to go out and drink (and fuck) with one's buddies in public cantinas that courted gay clients. Chapultapec Park was, until recently, the most notorious place to cruise. Now it is dangerous for just about everyone, especially tourists lost outside of the anthropology museum. (A must see, by the way.)
People still remember the 41 guys arrested in the early 1940s and despite what gabachos think, Chilangos have generally been very sympathetic toward gays and the weirdness that gripped the country during the 40s and 50s. It was the same weirdness expressed in most large cities around the world. But Mexico has a rich gay history of not just tolerance, but having been one the biggest destinations where gay men and women came from all over the world for the simple freedom to exist unmolested by their own countries.
Recently, a gabacha from Colorado who we call PT (for
pretentious
bitch), suggested that it was ironic that The Squeeze and I had come to Mexico for a volunteer work vacation. "It's such a macho society, don't you feel persecuted?" By her, yes. But that same week the front page headlines announced the same sex partner law. It has yet to go into effect. But PT, as most 'Mericuhns who show up down here, doesn't read any of the daily papers and assumes that the 'Mericuhn Dollar should be coveted and worshipped by the locals. It isn't. In fact, they're rather tired of putting up with northern arrogance AND, amusingly, Europeans (lots of French and Germans) who are called Euro-chingas.
Maybe your gay Mexican friend just has problems with living in Mexico and feels that his life will be better in the USA. Can't say. But even in Oaxaca, gay kulture is alive and well and WAY tolerated. Puerto Vallarta is now the de facto gay resort of Mexico. White parties are held in Cancun. And the old cantina where the 41s (los catorce-unos) were arrested is still in business from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM as a watering hole for gays and straight local businessmen. And it's only one and a half blocks from the presidential palace and the historical cathedral, a half block from the Zocalo. Same clientel since it first opened its doors in 1855. I think that sort of predates Stonewall?
