The first openly non-binary member of Mexico’s judiciary Jesús Ociel Baena was found dead Monday along with his partner, identified by local media. It is unclear yet at the time of publishing if foul play was involved, BBC reports.
A statement from the state attorney general’s office revealed there were no signs of forced entry or that a third party was in the house at the time of their deaths. They said that “one of the lifeless bodies found was holding a cutting instrument.”
No blood was found outside of the crime scene and preliminary findings suggested the incident could have been a personal matter.
Letra S, an LGBTQ+ rights group, has put pressure local authorities to withhold prejudice while investigating the incident. The group’s leader, Alejandro Brito, reported to the Associated Press that 38-year-old Baena, being non-binary, received "many hate messages, and even threats of violence and death.”
Baena became a magistrate for the Aguascalientes state electoral court in October 2022. The same month, he posted to X:
"I am a non-binary person, I am not interested in seeing myself as a woman or a man.”
"This is an identity, it is mine and for me, for no one else."
Baena was one of the first people to be issued a passport with a non-binary classification in Mexico.
LGBTQ+ activists gathered in Mexico City for a vigil for Baena Monday evening.
"We are heirs to a struggle that Ociel inherited from us," one person told Reuters news agency.
"We must not let Ociel's death pass in vain and we must carry on the legacy Ociel left us."
