Activists Call Out Lesbophobia in Quintana Roo Pride March

Playa del Carmen, Mexico — The lack of hate crime statistics for lesbian women highlights the institutional machismo and lesbophobia that persists daily in Quintana Roo, according to Evelyn Virgilio, president of the "Les Voces Fest," an organization supporting the lesbian community in Playa del Carmen.

During her participation in the 2025 Pride March held yesterday in the city, the activist condemned the ongoing gender bias faced by the lesbian community in various spaces.

"We want to make something clear: the state and society continue to violate us. They still deny us our basic rights, such as access to dignified healthcare, justice, representation, and public policy inclusion," Virgilio stated.

She emphasized that lesbian women remain invisible in media, statistics, textbooks, and cultural spaces. As a result, they are demanding public policies that respect, recognize, and protect their rights, as well as comprehensive secular sexual education with a focus on diversity.

"Machismo and institutional lesbophobia affect us every day—when we are denied dignified spaces, when our relationships and motherhood are questioned, when our existence is sexualized or ridiculed," she stressed.

For the first time, this year’s march was led by a contingent of lesbians, who walked from the Poliforum sports complex to the "Plaza 28 de Julio," where the inclusivity flag was raised, as is tradition.