Monday, February 8, 2010
An American Diva at Juchitan's Muxe Vela
Fiona Mallratte
http://www.purpleroofs.com/gay-travel-blog/2010/02/american-diva-at-juchitans-muxe-vela.htmlJust before one a.m. this morning, I felt the warm breeze off the Laguna Superior kiss my face as I lifted it skyward to bask in the moment. I was standing smack in the middle of El Salon Guixhi in Juchitan, groovin' to the funky Latin sounds of Grupo Kautivador from nearby Oaxaca City with near 2000 revelers at the 34th annual Vela Muxe sponsored by Las Autenticas Intrepidas Buscadoras Del Peligro (The Authentic Intrepid Searchers of Danger).
Las Autenticas are the Muxes of Juchitan, a town of 70,000 situated just inland from Laguna Superior, on the west coast of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. The Muxes are the splendid queens of the Isthmus, where by tradition they have been seen as a third gender since before the Spanish ever set foot in Mexico. Perhaps it's not surprising that transgender and gay lifestyles are accepted in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a traditionally matriarchial society.
