Torres-Ruiz begins this article by explaining the HIV/AIDS pandemic and it’s the direct negative effect on sexual minorities within Mexico, as well as the effect it’s had on women and children. The author focuses primarily on the public policies (such as Globalization) that have resulted in the increases in new HIV infections throughout the late 20th century, and the activist work at the local, national, and international levels, that have drawn successes in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Through the engagement of Mexico’s government with the Grupo de Cooperacion Tecnica Horizontal and the eventual end of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) 71-year-reign, Mexican society underwent massive social changes in regards to the point of view on the LGBTQ+ community.
Antonio Torres-Ruiz is an Assistant Professor of Equity Studies at York University in Toronto, as well as an Associate Faculty in Latin American Studies at the University of Toronto, and has extensive knowledge on Latin American Politics, Democratization/Globalization, Social Movements, and Human Rights. This article provides an in-depth assessment of the policy changes that Mexico’s government took in the early 2000’s, along with their implementation of legislation against the discrimination of sexual minorities, and increasing access to medication to treat HIV/AIDS (such as antiretroviral therapies).
Within the much more expanded context of this course and Latin American human rights as a whole, this specific article definitively portrays the advancement of LGBTQ+ rights in Mexico and the rest of Latin America as a whole. As the article mentioned, prior to the 2000s most (if not all) nations in the Americas didn’t have any policies that would protect against LGBT discrimination by government agencies, or private businesses/individuals, but with the nation’s strides since then in specific topics such as recognition of Gender Identity and Same-Sex Marriage. These changes provide the framework for other nations to follow suit and adopt progressive policies towards the issues that the LGBTQ+ community face.
Human Rights in Latin America 