Carta sobre los maricones
| Carta sobre los maricones | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created | 27 November 1791 |
| Location | Mercurio Peruano |
| Author | José Mariano de Aguirre y Mayora |
| Purpose | condemning transvestism and homosexual practices |
Carta sobre los maricones (lit. A letter about faggots) is a text published in the Peruvian newspaper Mercurio Peruano on 27 November 1791,[1] attributed to the priest José Mariano de Aguirre y Mayora, who signed it under the pseudonym "Sophronio". It is one of the first works written in Peru that mentions transvestism and sexual diversity.[2][3]
The letter, dated August 1773 in "Androginópolis"—a satirical name given to the city of Lima in the 18th century—[4] is written by a character called "Filaletes", who writes to his friend Leandro describing the habits of Lima society, using satirical language to refer to androgynous people (maricones) and with a marked moralistic tone condemning transvestism and homosexual practices.[2][5]
The publication of Carta sobre los maricones generated reactions among Lima society: in the 19 February 1792 edition of the Mercurio Peruano appeared a missive entitled "Letter sent to society making some reflections on the one contained in Mercurio no. 94, in which homosexuals are depicted" (Spanish: Carta remitida á la sociedad haciendo algunas reflexiones sobre la que se contiene en el Mercurio núm. 94, en que se pinta á los Maricones), written by the priest Tomás Mendez y Lachica — censor of the Sociedad Académica de Amantes del País — under the pseudonym "Teagnes", and which sought to decipher the causes that would lead some men to adopt feminine behaviors.[2][6]
References
- ↑ "Carta sobre los maricones", Mercurio Peruano (in Spanish), 27 November 1791, retrieved 20 April 2026 – via filosofia.org
- 1 2 3 Giraldo, Daniel (2010). "Sexualidades intermedias en la prensa colonial hispanoamericana. Tres estudios de caso" [Intermediate Sexualities in the Hispanic-American Colonial Press: Three Case Studies]. Tinkuy: Boletín de investigación y debate (in Spanish) (14): 119–138. ISSN 1913-0481. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
- ↑ Reyna, Oscar G. Pamo (2015). "El travestismo en Lima: de la Colonia a la República" [Transvestism in Lima: from the Colony to the Republic] (PDF). Acta Herediana (in Spanish). 56: 26–26. doi:10.20453/ah.v56i0.2713. ISSN 2411-4502. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
- ↑ Rosas De La Cruz, Augusto (30 June 2020). "Más allá de Stonewall: hacia una genealogía de la diversidad sexual y genérica en la historia del Perú" [Beyond Stonewall: Towards a genealogy of sexual and gender diversity in the history of Peru]. Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 April 2026.
- ↑ Arcos Herrera, Carol (1 December 2008). "Maternidad y travestismo: cuerpos de mujeres en el Mercurio Peruano de historia, literatura y noticias públicas (1791–1795)" [Motherhood and transvestism: women's bodies in the Mercurio Peruano of history, literature and public news (1791–1795)] (PDF). Arenal. Revista de historia de las mujeres (in Spanish). 15 (2). University of Granada: 297–323. doi:10.30827/arenal.v15i2.3034. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
- ↑ "Mercurio Peruano. Tomo IV, 1792" (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 April 2026 – via Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library.