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Law and Culture Specific laws against homosexual activity between consenting adults in Mexico don't exist. There are no sodomy laws like there were in the United States. The age of consent is 18, so you may wish to check the voter registration ID when inviting someone home. While most states make no mention of homosexuality in their penal code, there are many state and municipal laws penalizing vaguely defined offenses against "morality" and "decency". It is these laws that have been and are still used selectively to harass gay men and transvestites in Mexico.  The Mexican Congress in April 2003 unanimously passed a "Federal Law to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination" that includes "sexual preferences" as a protected category. The law creates the National Council to Prevent Discrimination, a body with the power to investigate discriminatory acts committed by public officers. Up until then, the only country in Latin America having nation-wide protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was Ecuador. Wikipedia has general info on gay rights in Mexico. As of 2009, only the northern Mexican state of Coahuila and the capital of Mexico City (under the left wing PRD) have approved same-sex civil unions.  The population in general is somewhat tolerant of discrete homosexuality, though only a minority would support gay and lesbian rights. Violence against gays has become rarer in recent years due to the work of gay groups in the metropolitan areas and the involvement of sympathetic church and human rights organizations. Figures are still high, as twenty-six gay men were reported murdered in 1999 in Mexico for their sexual orientation (many were transvestites). Of course, most cases of violence or the threat of violence go unreported. But even the right-wing National Action Party (PAN), which opposes homosexuality on Christian religious grounds, has said that gays and lesbians have rights as human beings and should not be subjected to physical violence. Ex-president Vicente Fox, a member of PAN, had committed himself against discrimination based on sexual orientation, but neither his record nor that of his successor, current President Felipe Calderon, has been very encouraging. Even still, the progressive segments of Mexican society and culture have come a long way from the macho culture of only twenty years ago. In the last five to ten years alone there has been a big increase in the number of gay men and women in Puerto Vallarta and in Guadalajara, the state capital of Jalisco, not to mention large numbers in other major cities such as Acapulco, Monterey, Cancun and Mexico City, where gay life is also thriving. The resort areas of Mazatlan and Cancun have growing gay communities as well. The book The Night is Young: Sexuality in Mexico in the Time of AIDS by Hector Carrillo provides a very good account of the societal changes that have occurred in the last two decades among the Mexican urban middle class in relation to views of homosexuality and AIDS.

In 1997 Mexico elected a lesbian legislator, Patria Jimenez, to the Chamber of Deputies in the Federal District. During her campaign she emphasized her sexual orientation (unlike so many bourgeois candidates in the U.S. who downplay it or say it doesn't or shouldn't matter). She's a member of the left-wing PRD, Party of the Democratic Revolution, which is pro-gay and pro-lesbian.

As a result of the triumph in Mexico City of the left-wing PRD several years ago, the city now has a gay rights law that bans various forms of anti-gay discrimination. The law prohibits provocation or incitement of hate or violence, and likewise bans bias in employment and public accommodations and services, a law certainly more progressive than found in almost any American city. The penalty for violation of the law is one to three years in prison and/or a fine equal to 50 to 200 days’ salary and/or 25 to 100 days of community service.

AIDS is among the leading causes of death in the young adult population in Mexico. Reports suggest that the epidemiological pattern of AIDS in Latin America is different from that observed in other parts of the world and Mexico seems to have unique characteristics: 95% of the cases to date among men and 45% among women are due to sexual transmission. Among men with sexually acquired AIDS, 60% were classified as homosexuals, 25% as bisexuals, and 15% were heterosexuals. HIV transmission due to injection drug use is less than 1%. In Mexico there are more than 21,000 AIDS cases, most of which have occurred in men (85%) and in Mexico City (56%). The high prevalence of bisexual behavior among men has likely had a major impact on the risk of HIV infection among women and children.

For further info on social attitudes, legal issues and gay organizations, etc see Mexico: Update on the Treatment of Homosexuals (May 2000) by the INS Resource Information Center. Wikipedia has a short but very informative page with links on gay rights in Mexico. The improving but still rather dismal state of human rights in general in Mexico is reported on by Human Rights Watch (2005), and the 2008 report on Mexico by Amnesty International. Unfortunately, torture and ill-treatment are widespread in Mexico.

You might also want to check out Gay Mexico: A Three-Part Journey, at Global Gayz, which tells stories of gay life in three different cities in Mexico: Cancun, Morelia and Mexico City. Globalgayz also has posts for current gay Mexico news and reports for 2000-2003, 2004-2006 and 2007-2008

Corruption in Mexico continues to be a major national problem. In a 2007 international survey on perceived corruption released annually by Transparency International, Mexico again scored lower than in previous years, dropping from 58th (2002) to 64th place (2004) to 70th place (2006) and most recently in 2008 to 72nd place (tied with Peru, Suriname, China, Bulgaria and Swaziland) out of 180 countries.

For useful info and insight into the Zapatista (EZLN) movement for self determination in Chiapas and human rights for the indigenous Indian populations of Mexico, visit the Zapatista web site E-Z-L-N in Spanish.

Tourists in Mexico are protected by federal tourist and consumer protection laws. For tourist information, 24 hours a day, you can call INFOTUR free from any place in the country at 01-800-903-9200. For information about your rights as a consumer and tourist, you can contact PROFECO, the equivalent of a Federal Consumer Protection Agency. If you have any problems with any businesses in town, contact them locally at Plaza Palmar de Aramar #106, Tel: 225-0000 or 225-0018. They speak english. Or call free of charge from anywhere in the country at Tel: 01-800-903-1300.

Here's part of a piece apparently published in 2005 by Profeco, the Consumer Protection Agency in Puerto Vallarta, with a rough free translation from VallartaScene by one of the site administrators:

"Discrimination or abuse of any person who goes to bars or nightclubs can be reported to the Federal Consumer Agency, Profeco, the body that can legally proceed with sanctions against these establishments. The customer of any bar or nightclub has rights which must be respected, and establishments are obligated to offer their services in a respectful manner, with quality and adherence to the law, said the Profeco through a communique.

Consumers have five basic rights set forth in the Federal Law on Consumer Protection (LFPC), in these places.

It stipulates that no establishment has the right to discriminate. The LFPC states in Article 58: "The supplier of goods, products or services may not reject or restrict consumers on the basis of gender, nationality, ethnicity, sexual preference or religion, or any other characteristic."

......In case of receiving a disservice by any establishment, the consumer may request advice or file a charge by calling the Profeco at 01-800-468-8722. In Puerto Vallarta concerned consumers can call telephone #225-0000 or go to the office located at Av. Océano Pacífico # 108-3, Local 106, in the Plaza of Colonia Palmar de Aramara."

Travel note: Mexico is a poorer country that suffers regularly from the scarcity of both goods and services. You may not consider yourself wealthy by North American standards, but your income is substantial compared to average Mexican wages. According to recent reports by the Center of Analysis and Projections for Mexico (CAPEM), median salaries adjusted for inflation have lost 36% of their buying power since 1980 and the minimum wage has lost nearly 70% of its value over the same period. New minimum wage rates take effect every January. The minimum wage varies regionally from approximately 47 to 52 pesos (a bit over four dollars) a day. This wage is paid to about 8 million workers in Mexico's 40-million strong workforce. Wages and income in tourist areas like Puerto Vallarta are generally higher than the national average; so perhaps average income would be around 150-250 pesos per day, about $12-20 US. Imagine trying to support a family or live on this kind of salary. Please keep this in mind if you ask a local out for food or a drink, and when you are tipping for service in the restaurants and to your housekeeper or maid in the hotel, villa or condo. People are appreciative of any help that is offered.