A Canadian gay couple vacationing in the Mexican resort town of Tulum were briefly detained for kissing on a beach 'near a group of children'.
Video footage recorded by a local women's right's activist Maritza Escalante on Sunday shows the moment the men were handcuffed together. A third man is also handcuffed in the back of the police pickup truck.
Quinana Roo Tulum Police said that officers were 'responding to a complaint of obscene behavior involving several people'.
In the video, one of the arrested men can be heard saying 'and that's why they arrested us' as he struggles to step into a police vehicle as a group of beachgoers surround it.
'We are gay and we were kissing and that's why they are taking us,' he later says. 'We are gay.'
The crowd chanted at the officers until the men were released.
A Canadian gay couple vacationing in the Mexican resort town of Tulum were briefly detained for kissing on a beach 'near a group of children'. Pictured, one of the men arrested
Video footage recorded by a local women's right's activist Maritza Escalante on Sunday shows the moment the men were handcuffed together. A third man is also handcuffed in the back of the police pickup truck
Beachgoers surround two gay men while they were being arrested for allegedly kissing in public at a beach in Tulum, Mexico, on Sunday. The Quintana Roo Tulum Police said its agents were responding to a call involving several individuals who were engaging in lewd behavior. 'We are an inclusive and impartial police both for residents and tourists who visit the state of Quintana Roo,' the Quintana Roo Tulum Police said in a statement
Escalante said she was on a family beach trip when she noticed a police patrol unit approaching the gay men on their ATVs.
'To my surprise and that of many who had also approached [the cops], the reason for their arrest was because they were gay and had kissed,' Escalante wrote on Facebook.
'The policemen were violent and gave arguments such as "there are families and children and they cannot be seeing this." They were forced into the patrol and not allowed to go,' she added.
'All of us who were gathered were upset to see the situation. No matter how much we told them they [the police] were committing a crime, they would not let them go.'
A gay man from Canada told beachgoers that he and his partner 'are gay and we were kissing and that's why they are taking us' while they were loaded into the back of a police pickup truck at a beach in Tulum, Mexico, on Sunday
A beachgoer confronts the Quintana Roo Tulum Police at a beach in Tulum on Sunday moments after cops apprehended three men, including a gay couple, following reports of individuals who were engaging in vulgar sexual acts in front of other families.
The Quintana Roo Tulum Police issued a statement Thursday saying the officers were responding to a call of several individuals engaging in vulgar sexual acts in front of other families.
After being pressured by the crowd, the officers soon removed the handcuffs from the three arrested men and allowed them to leave to prevent a riot.
In response to the arrest, Quintana Roo Tulum Police said: 'We are an inclusive and impartial police both for residents and tourists who visit the state of Quintana Roo. So no abuse of authority will be tolerated.'
pivotes on February 28th, 2021 at 13:50 UTC »
I find it amusing that the cops backed down when faced by the crowd. That tells you they're just a couple of petty bullies abusing their authority and had absolutely no confidence that they had either enough respect from the public that they wouldn't be murdered right then and there, and that they also had no confidence in their fellow officers coming out to assist them.
And I'd like to know how much of that crowd was local vs. tourist. Because that would say a lot about the locals if there were significant numbers of them interceding on behalf of the two tourists.
Finally... WTF? Why are two Canadians vacationing in Mexico during COVID?
v_a_n_d_e_l_a_y on February 28th, 2021 at 13:49 UTC »
My sympathy for them is diminished by the fact that they are vacationing in Mexico during a pandemic.
AngrybutSmart on February 28th, 2021 at 13:38 UTC »
Is it illegal to display homosexual behaviour in Mexico?