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Eduardo Verástegui has become a trending topic on social media following the release of his film "Sound of Freedom" and his registration with the National Electoral Institute (INE). He stated his intention to seek an independent candidacy for the Mexican presidency in 2024.

The Mexican actor and producer had previously announced his intention to seek the nomination in order to promote a conservative and religious political platform . He argues that this segment of the population has been left without political representation.

Among their messages on social media are misinformation about the LGBTIQ+ population and comprehensive sex education.

“Gender ideology” does not exist; it is a term used to spread misinformation.

On several occasions, Eduardo Verástegui has shared that there is an attempt to impose " gender ideology" in Mexico and around the world.

But gender ideology does not exist as a category within the social sciences. It is a construct that seeks to denigrate the demands for women's rights and sexual diversity.

According to the Glossary for Equality of the National Institute for Women (Inmujeres) , gender ideology is a term that is used in a negative and derogatory way to cancel or dismiss the sexual and gender diversity to which societies, cultures and nations have been opening up.

The term "ideology" refers to the dogmatic nature assumed regarding the ideas of equality, empowerment, and respect for the personal experience of identity and sexuality. Feminist and diversity movements are rejected, arguing that they go against nature and the family and that they operate by endangering the established social order.

Disinformation that has been circulating since at least '95

The term “gender ideology” emerged in 1995 as a discursive strategy of the Vatican during the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing.

The Pontifical Council for the Family stated that “gender ideology is part of the “feminist ideologies” that derive from the “loss of faith in the world.”

It was in 2016 that Pope Francis popularized the concept by declaring that gender ideology is an “ideological colonization” that “goes against natural things.”

That same year, following a presidential initiative to recognize same-sex marriage in the Constitution (which was rejected), the National Front for the Family . The purpose of this organization: “the elimination of gender ideology in schools.”

This narrative has been spread by various churches and anti-rights groups to oppose comprehensive sexual education and the gender perspective .

Pedophilia is not a sexual orientation

Verástegui has also insisted on linking pedophilia with homosexuality, but pedophilia is not a sexual orientation , but a crime that is exercised in an unequal power relationship.

In 1990, the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) . That year, specialists highlighted the widespread consensus that homosexuality is a natural variation of human sexuality and cannot be considered a pathological condition.

While pedophilia is currently listed as a mental disorder in the WHO's International Classification of Diseases.

In the ICD-11, “pedophilic disorder” is described as “a sustained, focused and intense pattern of sexual arousal, manifested by persistent sexual thoughts, fantasies, desires or behaviors involving prepubescent children.”

The aspiring independent candidate for the Mexican presidency in 2024 has also declared abortion has been imposed in Mexico .” He further claimed that “COVID, face masks, and vaccines” are the work of groups seeking to reduce the population . International organizations, health professionals, and media outlets have refuted these claims.

This article was produced as part of a partnership between Agencia Presentes and Verificado. We aim to combat disinformation and hate speech related to gender and diversity.