Mexico has its first openly gay mayoral
candidate.
Miguel Antonio Galan will be on the
ballot this summer seeking to take Guadalajara City Hall, on the
Mexican Social Democratic Party (PSD) ticket.
The selection of Galan came on Friday
when the PSD picked its official slate of candidates for local
elections in the industrial region, reports the Spanish news agency
EFE.
Guadalajara, the capital of the state
of Jalisco and the nation's second largest city, has an estimated
population of 4 million people. It is more populous than Berlin,
Germany where openly gay Klaus Wowereit became mayor of one of the
world's largest cities in 2001. Open gay Bertrand Delanoe has been
mayor of Paris, France, a city of 2 million, since 2001. Delanoe is
considering a run for president in 2012.
In accepting his nomination, the
31-year-old Galan said he was committed to the cause of social
democracy around the world and that his candidacy was for the whole
of society, not just the regional gay community, which he called
politically “disillusioned” and “unmotivated.”
Galan told EFE that he wants voters to
move beyond the issue of sexual orientation to proposals and how they
would “change the city's dynamic.”
“Proposals have to be made, beyond
what the candidate's [bedroom activities] are,” he said.
NotieSe, a progressive news agency that
specializes in GLBT issues, confirmed Galan was the first openly gay
candidate to run for mayor in Mexico's history.
The PSD's progressive Party Platform
includes the legalization of drugs and decriminalization of abortion.
It currently holds 1% of the 500 seats in the lower house of
Congress and none in the Senate. Galan is considered a long shot to
win.