page_title: LGBT history in Mexico
section_title: Pre-Columbian era
hierarchical_section_title: LGBT history in Mexico / Pre-Columbian era
caption_attribution_description: Pederastic rite
context_page_description: The study of homosexuality in Mexico can be divided into three separate periods, coinciding with the three main periods of Mexican history: pre-Columbian, colonial, and post-independence, in spite of the fact that the rejection of homosexuality forms a connecting thread that crosses the three periods.
  The data on the pre-Columbian people and those of the period of colonization is scarce and obscure. Historians often described the indigenous customs that surprised them or that they disapproved of, but tended to take a position of accusation or apology, which makes it impossible to distinguish between reality and propaganda. In general, it seems that the Mexica were as homophobic as the Spanish, and that other indigenous peoples tended to be much more tolerant, to the point of honoring Two-Spirit people as shamans.
  The history of homosexuality in the colonial period and after independence is still in great part yet to be studied. Above all, the 1658 executions of sodomites and the 1901 Dance of the Forty-One, two great scandals in Mexican public life, dominate the scene.
context_section_description: The majority of information on the pre-Columbian peoples comes from the reports of the Spanish conquest. These accounts must be taken with caution, given that the accusation of sodomy was used to justify the conquest, along with other accusations real or invented, such as human sacrifice, cannibalism, or idolatry. Given that the defenders of the natives manipulated information as much as those who opposed them, some trying to minimise the incidence of sodomy and others exaggerating the stories, it is impossible to get an accurate picture of homosexual behavior in pre-Columbian Mexico. The historian Antonio de Herrera arrived at that conclusion as early as 1601.
  Among the indigenous peoples of the Americas the institution of the two-spirit people was widespread. The two-spirits, originally considered hermaphrodites and called "berdache" by the Spanish conquistadors, were men who took feminine duties and behaviors. They were considered neither men nor women by their societies, but were considered like a third sex and often held spiritual functions. The conquistadors often thought of them as passive homosexuals, and they were treated with contempt and cruelty.
  Among Mayans, there was a strong association between ritual and homosexual behavior. Some shamans engaged in homosexual acts with their patients, and priests engaged in ritualized homosexual acts with their gods. When the Toltecs arrived to conquer the region, they brought more sodomy and public sex of all kinds. Then when Itzá conquered the area, they brought more sodomy, more eroticism and extensive sexual ceremonies. However, the Maya, as a people with a hybrid culture, had differing views on homosexual sodomy. The Maya Chilam Balam books, for example, regularly contained sexual insults directed toward the Itzá. According to mythology contained in the book, sodomites were responsible for destroying the order of Maya society by producing illegitimate children through their anuses who were unable to run society.
  The Zapotecs of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southeastern Mexico did not develop a culture of conquest, which may explain their relaxed attitude toward masculinity. The Zapotecs developed the concept of a third gender, which they referred to as muxe, as an intermediate between male and female who played both gender roles in everyday life. It is important to note that “two-spirit” (and similar native terms) refer to
  gender, not sexual orientation. “Two-spirit” individuals may be heterosexual, bisexual, or
  homosexual. To date, muxes still exist among Zapotec people and play a crucial role within the community.
  In the Valley of Mexico, the Aztecs lived in urban centers such as Texcoco, Tlatelolco, and Tenochitlan. From there, they politically dominated most of Mesoamerica and extracted a heavy tribute of raw materials, finished products, slaves, and sacrificial victims. The Aztecs exhibited a profound duality in their approach to sexual behavior. On one hand, they held public rituals which were at times very erotic, but on the other, they were extremely prudish in everyday life. In their pantheon, the Aztecs worshiped a deity, Xochiquetzal, who was the goddess of non-procreative sexuality and love, and both female and male at the same time. In her male aspect, called Xochipilli, was worshiped as the deity of male homosexuality and male prostitution.  The mythical history of the Aztec people was divided into four "worlds", of which the previous had been "an easy, weak life, of sodomy, perversion, of the dance of the flowers and of adoration to Xochiquétzal", in which the "masculine virtues of war, management and wisdom" were forgotten.  It is possible that this story made reference to the Toltecs.  In the majority of cases, they allowed the people they conquered to maintain their own customs. Nonetheless, Aztecs placed a high premium on "manly", "assertive" behavior, and a corresponding stigma on "submissive" behavior. When conquered people were not sacrificed on temple altars, the males of conquered nations were often demoted to the status of women. The penalti
caption: Homoerotic Mayan paint in the natural cave of Naj Tunich in Petén, Guatemala.
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