The Ball of the 41
A ball, 41 arrests and a son-in-law who vanished: how one raid shaped Mexico's queer history.
On 18 November 1901, at around three in the morning, the police knocked on the door of a house on Calle de la Paz in Mexico City. A man in women's clothes opened it. Inside, a private ball was under way that had begun on Sunday evening. About half the guests were wearing dresses, wigs and jewellery, the other half suits.
The officers arrested 41 men, many of them from respected families in the capital. A rumour about a 42nd guest persisted stubbornly: Ignacio de la Torre y Mier, the son-in-law of President Porfirio Díaz. His name appeared on no list. He is said to have got away unscathed.
There was no law against homosexuality in Mexico. The charge was therefore offences against morality and decency. The arrested men had to sweep the streets in women's clothes. Those who could not buy their freedom were sent to Yucatán, where the army was fighting rebellious Maya. Forced labour and barracks duty awaited them there.
The press pounced on the scandal, half amused, half outraged. The graphic artist José Guadalupe Posada illustrated broadsheets with mocking verses. For the first time, homosexuality became a public topic in Mexico, as a joke and a threat at the same time.
The consequences reached far into the 20th century. The number 41 became an insult. Hotels left out room 41, house numbers were avoided, and the army did without units with that number. Some people even skipped their 41st birthday.
Today the queer community has reclaimed the number. For the centenary, the Museum of Mexico City commemorated the ball with an exhibition. In 2020, the feature film "El baile de los 41" came to cinemas. The humiliation has become a founding myth of the Mexican queer movement.