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At least three dissidents were attacked, threatened, and discriminated against by a group of armed men on Tuesday, October 3. The men were security personnel for the owner of MED Centro Médico , a private hospital with numerous citizen complaints of fraud, medical negligence, and assault. It is located in the Benito Juárez borough of Mexico City.

Aom, a non-binary person and one of the affected individuals, told Presentes that in addition to the attack, the medical attention they requested for a friend was full of irregularities from the moment they called 911.

When the emergency number was called, a private ambulance arrived instead of a public one. This problem is documented by the Mexico City government itself. Authorities are colluding with unregulated ambulance and private clinics to commit fraud and act negligently.

Aom says the attack began after she and her girlfriend talked in the waiting room of this clinic about these irregularities and scams of ambulances and private clinics. 

“My girlfriend and I were talking, and nearby, next to a water cooler, there were some papers. Out of curiosity, we were looking through them when suddenly someone from the hospital came and told us we couldn't see those papers. We said okay . And a few minutes later, five armed bodyguards belonging to the hospital owner arrived. They weren't hospital security . And they told us we had to leave because, according to them, we had photocopied confidential information from those documents, which is false,” Aom recounts.

The hospital owner also discriminated against Aom for wearing piercings and having short hair. 

In Mexico, 42.7% of LGBTI+ people aged 15 and over reported having been discriminated against at least once because of their physical appearance, clothing, or personal grooming. This data comes from the National Survey on Sexual and Gender Diversity ( ENDISEG, 2021 ).

“Discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and diverse sex characteristics is structural in nature. It is a process with historical roots that feeds on stereotypes associated with sexual diversity. These stigmas have justified unequal treatment,” notes the National Council to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination (Conapred).

Discrimination based on appearance

The owner of Med Centro Médico, amidst the argument, said, “We are recording them and listening to them speaking ill of the hospital.” He asserted that, in his opinion, this constituted discrimination against his hospital.

“In the end, it was all because we were talking about the situation with the ambulances. The owner told me I had no brain for wearing piercings and having short hair. I told him that was discrimination, and everything escalated. They became more aggressive, and we left the hospital,” Aom recalls.

This clinic displays a plaque that reads “no discrimination in this establishment,” but it is not the one issued by the Council to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination in Mexico City (Copred ). To obtain this certification, 50% of the management and staff must receive training to adhere to this strategy, among other requirements.

“We pointed out that license plate to them and said they were doing the opposite, and in the street the bodyguards showed us their weapons and told us, 'Don't even look at that because you'll see what's going to happen to you.' My girlfriend took out her cell phone to record that threat, and at that moment the thug (bodyguard) took the cell phone from her, broke it, and then the struggle began, even against my friend's family,” Aom adds.

He also alleges that this happened in the presence of a police officer from the Public Security Secretariat who was on the street and did nothing to stop the attacks. 

A patrol car arrived later, and the officers from that unit took the initial statements from Aom and his family, but they did not arrest the armed men who attacked them. Two of the assailants left in a car.

Aom and his girlfriend decided to file a complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office for damage to private property and threats. For the discrimination charge, Aom prefers to file his complaint online. 

Abuse, serophobia and neglect

The private clinic Med Centro Médico also engaged in medical negligence, serophobic violence, and mistreatment against Aom's friend.

“They insisted that my friend had HIV simply because his partner is a man, and they were very insistent on giving him a test, which was extremely expensive, by the way. Furthermore, they wouldn't let my friend leave until a bill of 240,000 pesos was paid for the two days he was there, and they refused to release his medical records. They threatened us, saying they wouldn't treat him anymore until the bill was paid in full—basically, a kind of kidnapping,” Aom reports.

Aom's friend was discharged with pneumonia, a condition he didn't have before entering the clinic. Furthermore, he was handed over to his family naked on a stretcher. 

“They took my friend out naked, not even with the gown that they charged a fortune for, they handed him over naked on a stretcher,” he adds.

Where to report discrimination?

Nationwide, individuals who experience any act of discrimination (committed by private citizens or public officials) can file a complaint with the National Council to Prevent Discrimination (CONAPRED). They can do so through various channels, including online complaints ( at this link ); by phone at 800 543 0033 and (55) 5262 1490; and by email at quejas@conapred.org.mx

In Mexico City, you can file a complaint online here or by calling 55-5658-1111.

Furthermore, this article from Chilango explains how to identify unlicensed ambulances to avoid falling victim to their scams.