Thousands have marched in Mexico’s capital demanding justice for an influential LGBTQ+ figure who was found dead at home in the city of Aguascalientes after receiving death threats.

Thousands marched in Mexico’s capital Monday night demanding justice for Jesús Ociel Baena, an influential LGBTQ+ figure who was found dead at home in the central city of Aguascalientes after receiving death threats.

Baena was the first openly nonbinary person to assume a judicial post in Mexico, becoming a magistrate in the Aguascalientes state electoral court, and broke through other barriers in a country where LGBTQ+ people are often targeted with violence.

The state prosecutor’s office confirmed that Baena was found dead Monday morning next to another person, who local media and LGBTQ+ rights groups identified as Baena’s partner, Dorian Herrera.

State prosecutor Jesús Figueroa Ortega said at a news conference that the two displayed injuries apparently caused by a knife or some other sharp object.

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    Baena was the first openly nonbinary person to assume a judicial post in Mexico, becoming a magistrate in the Aguascalientes state electoral court, and broke through other barriers in a country where LGBTQ+ people are often targeted with violence.

    State prosecutor Jesús Figueroa Ortega said at a news conference that the two displayed injuries apparently caused by a knife or some other sharp object.

    The suggestion that suicide was one possibility in the deaths quickly sparked outrage, with LGBTQ+ groups calling it another attempt by authorities to simply brush aside violence against their communities.

    Alejandro Brito, director of the LGBTQ+ rights group Letra S, said Baena’s visibility on social media made the magistrate a target and urged authorities to take that into consideration in their investigation.

    Baena appeared in regularly published photos and videos wearing skirts and heels and toting a rainbow fan in court offices and advocated on social media platforms, drawing hundreds of thousands of followers.

    While Mexico has made significant steps in reducing anti-LGBTQ+ violence, Brito’s Letra S documented at least 117 lesbian, gay and bisexual and transgender people slain.

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