Story By: Jonathan Macias, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
Video Credit: CEN
This is the moment LGTBQIA+ activists and farmers brutally clash after a historic leader of the Mexican Revolution was painted on a horse wearing only high heels and the piece was displayed in a museum.
The brawl took place in front of the Fine Arts Palace in the Mexican capital Mexico City after a piece depicting Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata Salazar (1879-1919) was displayed in the museum.
The controversial piece by artist Fabian Chairez shows Emiliano Zapata riding a white horse wearing only high heels and a traditional Mexican hat in a seductive pose. The horse itself appears to be aroused.
According to local media, LGTB+ activists clashed with workers from the National Union of Agriculture Workers in Mexico (UNTA) and the Independent Centre of Agriculture Workers and Farmers (CIOAC) during the protest.
The footage shows a woman shouting “for LGTB rights” seconds before several people start fighting with a man who falls to the floor and is kicked in the face.
Reports state that an activist ended up with a bleeding nose after he was kicked on his face but it is unclear if he was taken to the hospital.
Several workers from the UNTA and the CIOAC reportedly took the hall of the Fine Arts Palace of Mexico City yesterday and threatened to burn the painting as well as not letting anybody leave the building if the painting was not removed.
According to local media, the workers shouted: “Go away faggots! Work in the fields! They want to be accepted but they have not worked in the fields! We are going to beat them!”
The painting is displayed as part of the “Zapata despues de Zapata” (Zapata after Zapata) exhibition which has reportedly been closed temporarily.
The Director of the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico Lucina Jimenez told local media: “The artist has the right of freedom to create a diverse vision of a Mexican figure. It the proper time to raise a debate like this one. The dialogue must continue.”
The grandson of the leader of the Mexican Revolution Jorge Zapata announced that he plans to sue artist Fabian Chairez for depicting his grandfather as a “gay” figure as well as Jimenez.
Jorge Zapata told local media: “An unknown artist who wants fame, in my opinion, depicts our general as a gay man. As a relative and as a citizen of Mexico, where we are ‘Zapatistas’ we will not allow that”.
Emiliano Zapata Salazar lived between 1879 and 1919 and he was the main leader of the peasant revolution in the state of Morelos during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) that transformed Mexican culture and its government.
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