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Mexico's electoral court has decided to disqualify 15 local government candidates, who were pretending to traditional Muxes in Oaxaca, after ruling their attempted to use gender fluid characters to qualify under a gender quota rule amounted to fraud.
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“In order to avoid a fraud against the principle of gender parity, the court has decided to annul 15 of the 17 candidacies to the council in several municipalities of Oaxaca,” the court announced through an official statement.
The ruling was issued after Muxe, Mexico's third gender, organizations in Oaxaca reported that 17 male candidates from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the National Action Party (PAN), Citizen Movement, New Alliance, and the Democratic Revolutionary parties were pretending to be Muxes to meet a gender quota.
In Oaxaca, especially in the city of Juchitan, Muxes are recognized as a third gender. They are Indigenous people who are born with male genitalia but dress as women and have "assumed their social roles." They have existed since pre-hispanic times, and are often raised from an early age to become Muxes.
In Oaxaca, electoral norms establish parties must present the same number of male and female candidates in local elections. By pretending to be Muxes, the male candidates attempted to take the over spots that had to be reserved for women.
Mexico’s national electoral court approved only two Muxe candidates, Santos Cruz and Yhair Hernandez.
Mexicans will elect a new president, legislators, and local authorities on July 1.
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