Zapotec Indigenous Gays Celebrate Their Culture, Traditions in Mexico City Associated Press
go to original July 4, 2013

Como se dice "out of the closet?" Locals will tell you in Juchitan, Oaxaca, a haven for open gay and transvestite men. (GlobalPost)

MEXICO CITY - Wearing a long skirt, headdress and loose blouse embroidered with bright flowers, Mariana de la Noche road on a float in Mexico City's recent gay pride parade. The float was for "muxes," Zapotec indigenous men who dress and behave in ways associated with women.

The 33-year-old restaurant cook was picked as queen of the "muxes" (pronounced MOO-shays) living in Mexico City, where for the first time Saturday they celebrated a "vela," as community parties are known in their hometown of Juchitan, a city of Zapotecs in the southern state of Oaxaca.

Gay men, transvestites and transgender people are generally accepted in Juchitan and often work as home helpers, embroiderers, decorators, cooks and entertainers.

... It was a party to have fun but also an opportunity to reaffirm the muxes' presence in the capital and celebrate their traditions from back home.

Read the rest at The Windsor Star

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