This was Gabriel Quadri's apology after calling Salma Luévano “sir”

On the afternoon of March 31, the deputy for the National Action Party (PAN), Gabriel Quadri de la Torre, was the subject of severe criticism due to his transphobic comment before the Chamber of Deputies.

Since during the session, the deputy called Salma Luévano as “sir” despite the fact that she identifies as a woman, which was condemned by different members of political parties positioned on both sides of the spectrum, mainly the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the PAN itself.

Afterwards, Quadri, in an interview with journalist Azucena Uresti, accepted that it was too much of him to call her sir and acknowledged that “it was an excess and a mistake, so from today on I am going to refer to her as a woman and as a deputy.”

He also said that he had already asked for an apology following the expressions of rejection by various members of the House.

This happened during the debate on mental health reform, as the Blue and White MP filed a reservation to prohibit parents or guardians from making decisions with medical interventions and procedures related to trans childhood.

So Congresswoman Luévano lashed out at Quadri and mentioned that “As a proudly trans woman I want to tell the man that he is very wrong and that he remembers that he has children and families and that hopefully they will shut his mouth there”.

Faced with this response, the blue and white deputy asserted that “Mr Luévano is threatening me within the plenary session and that he does not give any argument to the subject we are dealing with, he only insults and disqualifies”.

After this comment, several legislators and legislators expressed their rejection of the panist's comments. Deputy Cynthia Iliana López Castro of the PRI bench demanded that Quadri should apologize publicly, “we are disrespecting all women, all MPs and all Mexicans who have fought for many years in this country because there is no discrimination.”

After several more speeches, Quadri offered an apology to Luévano because “I acknowledge that I committed a fault, a rhetorical excess but that it also occurred in the context of slander and insults that come from that part”, assured the deputy, who later asked that the expression be removed from the debates newspaper.

Finally, at the end of the session, legislators took over the Board of Directors in protest, which caused the panista to comment on his Twitter that holds San Lazaro members responsible for what might happen to him or his family.

Likewise, Minister Arturo Zaldívar took a stand against the comments made by the former presidential candidate in 2012, arguing that transphobia is a hatred that emerged from ignorance and intolerance.

“Today and always transphobia is unacceptable. It is hatred that arises from ignorance and intolerance. It is the product of the arrogance of those who feel superior and possess the only truth, but deep down it is fear of who is different. All rights for all people.”

Legislator Salma Luevano had already filed a complaint against Gabriel Quadri because of a comment in which she pointed out transgender legislators as “Morena's men, women's dresses, tall and stout.”

KEEP READING: