Mexican sexual diversity advocates "welcome" Pope Benedict XVI

Photo via Ricardo Brauch.

A number of Mexican LGBT and sexual health advocates gathered yesterday at Mexico City's Glorieta de La Independencia yesterday to extend a less than warm welcome to Pope Benedict XVI.

Chanting "You are a foe to many human rights" and "You protect pedophiles and then act saintly", activists asked the Pope to leave.

Ricardo Baruch, Director of the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, said that the protest was not meant to be an attack on those who believe in God. Instead, he said it was a direct condemnation of Pope Benedict XVI and the Catholic leadership and their attempt to impose the retrograde policies of the Vatican on the nation of Mexico.

Baruch also questioned the use of federal tax funds in support of the three-day visit, the Pope's refusal to meet with victims of pedophilia in the hands of the Mexican Legionaries of Christ and his opposition to reproductive rights for women.

Other organizations that participated in the protest included Grupo Interdisciplinario Feminista, Colectivo Pan y Rosas, Movimiento de Caderas, Pacto por la Vida, la Red de Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos, Grupo Interdisciplinario Feminista y La Chichi Indignada.