Amaranta Gómez Regalado (born 1977) is a Mexican Muxe social anthropologist, political candidate, HIV prevention activist, social researcher, columnist and promoter of

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

indigenous cultural identity.

Biography

Gómez was born in 1977 in a Zapotec village close to the border of

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

and adopted the name of Amaranta during adolescence, after reading '' One Hundred Years of Solitude'', the famous work of Colombian writer

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th centur ...

. During high school, Gómez Regalado studied languages and theater in

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

. She then traveled to several states in southern Mexico as part of a

transvestism Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express onesel ...

show. In October 2002, a car accident fractured her left arm to such an extent that it had to be amputated. In 2015 she managed to change her

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...

on her birth certificate, which allowed her to change other official documents such as a passport. This was possible from the reforms approved by what was once the

Legislative Assembly of Mexico City The Congress of Mexico City () is the legislative branch of the government of Mexico City. Between 1988 and 1997, it was known as the Assembly of Representatives of the Federal District (). Between 1997 and 2018, it was styled the Legislative ...

to allow people to legally change their gender identity in their birth certificate, through only an administrative procedure. (See LGBT rights in Mexico#Gender identity and expression.) She studied social anthropology at the University of Veracruz between 2011 and 2016. Her undergraduate thesis was titled ''Guendaranaxhii: the Muxe community of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the emotional erotic relations''.

Activism

At the age of 25, she gained international prominence as a candidate for the

México Posible México Posible () was a Mexican political party of brief existence which took part in the midterm 2003 Mexican legislative election. The party was led by Patricia Mercado. Due to its not achieving 2.0% of the national vote the party lost its nati ...

party in the 2003 elections to the Federal Congress. Her broad platform included calls for the decriminalization of marijuana and abortion. Regalado did not win a seat.

Recognition

The Escuela Amaranta Gómez Regalado in Santiago, Chile is named for her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomez Regalado, Amaranta 1977 births Living people Politicians from Oaxaca Mexican LGBTQ rights activists Transgender women politicians Mexican transgender women Mexican transgender politicians 21st-century indigenous leaders of the Americas 21st-century Mexican women politicians Mexican LGBTQ politicians Zapotec people Muxe people Mexican anthropologists Mexican women anthropologists Mexican amputees Mexican activists with disabilities Indigenous Mexican women Women civil rights activists 21st-century indigenous writers of the Americas 21st-century Mexican LGBTQ people Scientists with disabilities Transgender people with disabilities 21st-century Mexican politicians 21st-century Mexican writers 21st-century Mexican women writers 21st-century Mexican women scientists 21st-century Mexican scientists 21st-century anthropologists 21st-century indigenous women of the Americas