LGBT groups demand justice after trans politician murdered in Mexico

Mexico City, Jan 12 (EFE).- Mexican LGBT groups demanded justice on Friday after the murder of Miriam Ríos, a trans member of the opposition Civic Movement (MC) party, in the western state of Michoacán.

“We strongly condemn the transfeminicide of a fellow activist, an LGBTI+ leader. A precious woman of our community, an active member of our society, Miriam Noemí Ríos Ríos, commissioner of the Civic Movement party in the municipality of Jacona, Michoacán,” the organization Yaaj México said in X, formerly Twitter.

Ríos was shot and killed on Thursday in the streets of the municipality of Jacona, a crime that the local MC leadership also condemned in a statement.

“The state leadership, led by Antonio Carreño, expressed its deepest condolences and demanded that the Attorney General’s Office, as well as the state and municipal authorities of Jacona, act and fulfill their obligation to shed light on the murder of Miriam Ríos,” the statement said.

The party recalled that the Public Prosecutor’s Office must investigate objectively, following national and international human rights standards, federal and state protocols, and a gender perspective designed for “cases involving sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Ríos is the second trans woman murdered this year in Mexico, where stylist Gaby Ortiz was found dead on Jan. 6 in the state of Hidalgo next to a cardboard box with a hate message.

She was also the fifth candidate who was preparing to run in the 2024 elections murdered in less than a month.

The organization Movement for Equality in Mexico (MOVii) “strongly” condemned the murder of Ríos and demanded that authorities at all levels guarantee safety and respect for the LGBT community.

“This act of violence is not only a personal tragedy and loss for the trans community, but also an alarming attack on human rights and the struggle for equality in Mexico,” said a statement by the organization.

Miriam Ríos was 38 years old, an activist and coordinator of the LGBT collective Respect and Gender Equality, and a municipal commissioner of MC in Jacona.

According to local media, the activist was at her hat stand when gunmen shot her.

Despite legal advances, Mexico is the second country in Latin America, after Brazil, with the most homophobic and transphobic violence, according to the National Observatory of LGBT Hate Crimes of the Arcoíris Foundation. EFE

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