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MEXICO CITY, Mexico. Ulises Salvador Nava Juárez, an LGBT+ activist and employee of the Autonomous University of Guerrero (UAGro) , was murdered on the afternoon of July 15 outside the Descubre Museum in the city of Aguascalientes . He was leaving a congress held in that city that brought together sexual diversity activists from across the country.

Ulises Nava was a law graduate, a doctoral candidate, and head of the Department of Sexual Diversity at the Autonomous University of Guerrero. Within that university, he dedicated himself to promoting initiatives for inclusion and respect for LGBT+ people. One of these initiatives was the installation of inclusive restrooms in at least three faculties and the high schools affiliated with the university.

Human rights defenders, public officials, and the rector-elect of the Autonomous University of Guerrero (UAGro) are demanding an end to impunity. They called on judicial authorities to conduct a thorough investigation that respects human rights, without disregarding Ulises's sexual orientation. Furthermore, dozens of LGBT+ organizations across the country are also demanding justice. 

Presentes contacted the Attorney General's Office of Aguascalientes and they responded through a statement: "From the moment we became aware of the attack against them, we activated the corresponding protocols to address the intentional criminal act, taking as a premise the gender perspective and mainstreaming," the document says.

No authority in the state of Guerrero, where Ulises was originally from, has issued any statement regarding the incident.

“Ulysses defended just causes”

Ulises Nava became involved in defending the human rights of LGBTI+ people in the state of Guerrero at the age of 15. He was also a volleyball player, part of his state's team.

“Ulises defended just causes. I’ve known him since he was 15, and he was dedicated to defending the human rights of the LGBTIQ+ community. And besides that, he was like a son to me. It’s not right that some people would take the life of someone who had so much in the present and, above all, so much future ahead of him,” Javier Saldaña, the rector-elect of the Autonomous University of Guerrero and a friend of Ulises local media

Ulises' academic and activist background led him to be recognized primarily for his work at the Autonomous University of Guerrero . In 2017, he founded the Department of Sexual Diversity, from where he promoted initiatives for inclusion and respect for LGBTI+ people at the university.

The facts

According to various press reports, around 6:00 p.m. on July 15, two people on a motorcycle fired at least six shots at Ulises Nava as he was leaving the Descubre Museum, the venue for the First National Congress on Strategic Litigation for Arcoiris Quotas. The attackers fled.

Nava, like other LGBT activists in Mexico, participated in that congress organized by trans congresswoman Salma Luévano and magistrate Ociel Baena, who demanded that the authorities of Aguascalientes not let there be impunity.

Both Luévano and Baena demanded justice and said on their social media that hate speech is the prelude to crimes like this one.

According to data from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System, the state of Aguascalientes is among the 13 states with the highest increase in homicides in the country. So far this year alone, 2,680 people have been victims of this crime.

So far, since no authority has provided information about the crime , it is unknown whether an investigation will be carried out with a differentiated approach due to the sexual orientation and the work as a human rights defender that Ulises Nava carried out.

Mexico does not investigate these crimes with an intersectional approach

In Mexico, human rights defenders are among the most vulnerable groups. Recently, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) called on states, including Mexico, to “protect human rights defenders with concrete measures and actions, including the investigation of acts of violence.”

In the last four years, at least 26 LGBT people who defended the rights of sexual diversity have been murdered in the country, according to data from the organization Letra S. Only in six cases were there arrests made.

However, since the Mexican State does not collect information on hate crimes or generate indicators that link these crimes to the activities of the victims, it is unknown how many of the crimes against LGBT people in Mexico are also related to their activity as human rights defenders.

“The challenge that haunts us is to understand if these living conditions, these professional tasks, are related to his murder,” the latest Letra S

According to data from the Letra S registry, in 2022 at least 6 trans women human rights defenders were murdered.

“His murder hurts all university students, the entire LGBTIQ+ community.”

This Monday, July 17, was honored in the courtyard of the Autonomous University of Guerrero, which was decorated with LGBT flags and floral arrangements. There, officials, students, activists, and family members chanted: “Ulises, present!” and “Long live Ulises!”

Officials from UAGro described Ulises as a hardworking, loving, respectful, and responsible man.

“From the ground up, he built a model of equality for all university students. We must follow his example, friends,” said Rector José Alfredo Romero Olea.

For his part, the rector-elect of UAGro and friend of Ulises, Javier Saldaña, said: “For me it is a great loss (…) his murder hurts my heart, but it also hurts all university students, the entire LGBTIQ+ community, they were deprived of the possibility of a person who surely, because of his background, would have represented them, not only at the university.”

Furthermore, university authorities reiterated their demand for justice from the Aguascalientes government. “There must be no impunity,” they said.

At the end, university officials and activists paid their respects to Ulises.