Dance Of The 41: The Drag Ball That Shook Mexico City

123 years later, we’re still talking about it.

Watching RuPaul’s Drag Race, younger generations could never appreciate how far queer and cross-dressing culture have come. The queens who sashay and shantay are makeup moguls with rabid teen followings, style icons on Fashion Week runways, and music producers releasing a plethora of pop, dance, and even country music. And it all traces back to the ballroom culture of 1980s New York. It was immortalized in the documentary Paris Is Burning, and inspired the song Vogue – one of Madonna’s greatest hits. But long before those drag balls was THE drag ball that shook Mexico: The Dance of the 41.

Category is: ¡ESCÁNDALO!

On November 17, 1901, police busted a soiree in a rented home (think Airbnb McMansion party). The authorities found 41 men, many dressed like women, with everybody serving old-school glam. There were lavish wigs, extravagant jewelry, sumptuous dresses, and so much makeup. They were even raffling off the services of a sex worker named Pepito…but there would be no happy ending that night.

It was the birth of gay culture…and repression.

Never mind the flouncy frocks. The real scandal? Some of these 41 men were well-known capital-C Conservatives from Mexico City society. The news spread as fast as possible without modern social media. The fallout was formidable: the men were publicly shamed, heckled, and forced to sweep city streets in women’s clothing. Some were even sent to detention camps.

Ironically, it was this group of cross-dresssing conservatives that also helped to kickstart Mexico’s gay rights movement. You’ve heard of Mexican standoffs, but this was a Mexican Stonewall. Because whether Mexican society wanted to admit it or not, The Dance of the 41 proved there was indeed a queer community. It was not just a one-off event but a peek into a secret society of gay men who revelled in booze, music, and merriment.

There was a 42nd dancer. Allegedly.

This tea is scalding! While 42 men were arrested, one was inexplicably released. Rumour is that he was not only the organizer, but also the son-in-law of Mexico’s President Porfirio Díaz. Married to Porfirio’s daughter Amada, his name was Ignacio de la Torre y Mier.

To put this in a modern context, imagine Jared Kushner (Donald Trump’s son-in-law) dressed like a doll from Bridgerton. Or imagine finding out a Republican Congressional representative did drag (except that’s not speculation: the rumours George Santos used to be a drag queen were indeed true. After his fall from grace in politics, Santos even resurrected his alter ego, Kitara Revache, to make a few bucks on Cameo).

Given the potential to ruin his presidency, Porfirio concealed the identity of Dancer #42. But whether or not he was at that party, people still speculated about Ignacio’s sexuality. He lived in a separate wing from Amada and preferred the company of lavish men over his own wife after all.

The number became taboo.

In the way everyone associates 13 with bad luck, 420 with cannabis, and 69 with inverted intercourse, the number 41 became a notorious meme in and of itself. Men flat-out refused to celebrate their 41st birthday. Decades later, when Mexico began to erect skyscrapers, they would even skip the 41st floor. Anywhere the number 41 should logically appear it simply did not. Because now the number was gay.

“I was befriended by these kids who nicknamed me 41.” explains Alberto Mendoza, who launched non-profit, Honor 41 that publishes annual lists of 41 LGBTQ+ Latinx role models. “My dad heard them calling me that, and I was so proud to tell him it’s my nickname until he asked me. ‘Are you a faggot? They’re calling you a faggot.’ I had no idea there was any history to it. That number became such a scarlet letter for me and it chased me for 28 years.”

Interestingly, the number itself wasn’t the only gay slur to emerge from the scandal. “Joto” is an even more popular slang term for ‘faggot’ (second only to “maricón”). Joto is the Spanish word for the letter “J”, which is the prison cellblock the men were held in after they were arrested.

But now the number is being reclaimed.

On the cusp of his 41st birthday, Mendoza had dinner with his friend Roman Palencia, who he calls the Latino godfather of the LGBTQ+ movement in California. “I told him I wasn’t looking forward to my birthday, and he told me the story of the 41. I realized I’m not alone, and started doing my research, and wondered why more people didn’t know about it.”

After Prop 8 passed in Calfiornia (a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage that was later overturned) Latinos were blamed for not getting behind the no on 8 campaign. In turn, Mendoza realized nobody was celebrating Latino LGBTQ+ leaders, so it inspired him to launch Honor 41.

“After all this time, to start an organization with 41 in it was really ironic. Let’s take back the number. Let’s educate others about the story. And let’s celebrate what’s happening in our community. Because if we don’t tell our stories, people will tell our stories for us. When you still have kids killing themselves because they’re fearful of being gay, how do you create breadcrumbs to help these kids see themselves in the future? The beauty of our organization is that it’s virtual, because there’s nothing more intimate when you’re coming out than when you start (looking for solidarity) on your phone or computer.”

If you want to donate to Honor 41, click here then click on the red “Donate” button in the top right corner.

Modern Gay Mexico

Like Honor 41, today’s LGBT+ youth in Mexico are reclaiming the number 41. Major cities like Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Tijuana have prominent gay scenes. Fundraisers are held that recreate The Dance of The 41. And let’s not forget Puerto Vallarta, which has become a globally renowned hotspot of homosexual frivolity.

Politically speaking, Mexico City was the first place to legalize gay marriage in Latin America in 2009 (even before the United States). Much of the country has banned discrimination based on sexual orientation, allowed same sex marriage and adoption, and embraced transgender rights. In 2019, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador even declared May 17th the National Day of Fighting Against Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.

See the Movie

Director David Pablos released a film about the event in 2021, which you can stream on Netflix.

Care to Dance?

Our short and sweet Mexico City Aztec Adventure departs twice a year. Only five days long and an easy flight from the United States and Canada, it makes for a great extended weekend in a world-class city. You’ll visit one of North America’s only royal palaces and shake your enchilada with the drag queens in Zona Rosa, the city’s gaybourhood.

All photos courtesy of Wikipedia Commons & Netflix.