Santo Gay unmasked! Why Jesús Chairez has decided to leave the US for Mexico

One of the very few US-based Latino gay bloggers writing about LGBT issues and politics has decided to leave his Dallas home and move to Mexico.

Santo Gay, who we have featured on our blog roll - and long known to be Dallas LGBT activist Jesús Chairez - tells the Dallas Voice that it's become impossible to keep up with the increasing costs of living in Texas. In addition, the Texas-born 54 year old also says that he is drawn to Mexico City because it's more accepting of LGBT people than Dallas has ever been.

"What I see here by caring, loving GLBT people with each other in public is more than I ever see in Dallas or most Texas cities, and this is another reason I am moving — to be more liberated as a gay man,” he tells the Dallas Voice, “Though I will miss Dallas, especially my friends, I won’t miss the not-so-friendly Texas hospitality our GLBT community gets from Texas’ conservative community."

Chairez is often called the "godfather" of the Latino LGBT movement in Texas and the accolades are well deserved. It will be a loss to the United States LGBT rights movement and a gain to the Mexican LGBT rights movement, if Chairez decides to become as politically involved in Mexican LGBT issues as he was here in the United States. We wish him the best of luck as well as our admiration for the legacy he leaves behind in Texas.

For the full Dallas Voice article and to see Santo Gay unmasked go to:

• "Adios Santo Gay" (Dallas Voice, March 27, 2008).