ANTINOUS weeps for a prominent activist and Mexico's first openly non-binary judge, whose murder has led to an outpouring of grief from the country's LGBTQ+ community.
Jesús Ociel Baena, 39, was found at home "slain with a razor blade", reported Reuters. A person identified by local media as Baena's partner Dorian Nieves Herrera was also found dead.
Candlelit vigils and demonstrations have taken place in several cities, where "many shed tears and speakers lashed out at the insults and acts of violence that remain a common occurrence for many gay, transgender and non-binary Mexicans".
The authorities said that Herrera, 37, appeared to have killed Baena before taking his own life. But LGBTQ+ leaders in the country are questioning whether such a swift assessment fits what they say is a pattern by authorities of effectively dismissing grisly killings involving LGBTQ people as crimes of passion.
Baena, a pioneering nonbinary figure, made history in 2022 when they became the first openly non-binary member of the Mexican judiciary. Their appointment was a breakthrough moment for LGBTQ individuals in the country.
Baena became one of the first Mexicans to receive a non-binary passport, and the first in their home state of Coahuila to be described as non-binary on their birth certificate. "Deal with it!" they posted on Twitter.
Just weeks before their death, they succeeded in being officially referred to as the gender-neutral "le magistrade" for magistrate, rather than "el magistrado" or "la magistrada".
Baena would regularly publish photos and videos of themselves in skirts, heels and toting a rainbow fan in court offices. They said they had regularly received death threats.
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