But it is still a region where men are macho, women are long-suffering, Catholicism dominates, and the family reigns supreme. Every radio station and nightclub in the country was playing a song by Molotov, a rock band determined to shock with lyrics full of swear-words and an album cover showing a girl with her knickers pulled down. Molotov went back to making songs about drugs. An interview with a man running for governor of Zacatecas, a state in north-central Mexico, confirmed that gay rights are not high on the agenda. He fell silent, pondering.
All equalities are equal, but some, it seems, are a little too equal to bear thinking about.
We would have to put it to a vote, and let the people of Mexico decide. He claimed not to be able to guess what the people of Mexico would say. Put homosexuality in front of them, and the people of Mexico don't say anything much. At this year's gay pride parade, thousands of homosexuals, bisexuals, drag queens, and transvestites marched down Mexico city's principal avenue, and on to its central square just as they might march in San Francisco or Berlin. Drivers chugging past wore the same looks of bemusement, amusement and occasional disgust as would drivers along London's Oxford Street.