Thousands in Mexico demand justice for LGBTQ+ figure found dead after death threats

MEXICO CITY — Thousands marched in Mexico’s capital Monday night demanding justice for Jesús Ociel Baena, an influential LGBTQ+ figure who was found dead at home in the central city of Aguascalientes after receiving death threats.

Baena was the first openly nonbinary person to assume a judicial post in Mexico, becoming a magistrate in the Aguascalientes state electoral court, and broke through other barriers in a country where LGBTQ+ people are often targeted with violence.

The state prosecutor’s office confirmed that Baena was found dead Monday morning next to another person, who local media and LGBTQ+ rights groups identified as Baena’s partner, Dorian Herrera.

State prosecutor Jesús Figueroa Ortega said at a news conference that the two displayed injuries apparently caused by a knife or some other sharp object.

“There are no signs or indications to be able to determine that a third person other than the dead was at the site of the crime,” Figuerora Ortega said.

The suggestion that suicide was one possibility in the deaths quickly sparked outrage, with LGBTQ+ groups calling it another attempt by authorities to simply brush aside violence against their communities. People who knew Baena said the magistrate in recent weeks was chipper and talked passionately about the future.

Federal Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez said at a briefing that authorities were investigating the deaths and it remained unclear if “it was a homicide or an accident.” Some homicides in Mexico have a history of being quickly minimized by authorities as crimes of passion.

Alejandro Brito, director of the LGBTQ+ rights group Letra S, said Baena’s visibility on social media made the magistrate a target and urged authorities to take that into consideration in their investigation.

“They were a person who received many hate messages, and even threats of violence and death, and you can’t ignore that in these investigations,” Brito said.

“They, the magistrate, was breaking through the invisible barriers that closed in the nonbinary community.”

Brito was echoed by thousands who gathered in the heart of Mexico City lighting candles over photos of Baena and other victims of anti-LGBTQ+ violence.

They shouted “Justice” and “We won’t stay silent” and demanded a thorough investigation into the deaths.