Scenarios of Strategic Secularism and Neoconservatism in Mexico

In Mexico, as in the rest of Latin America, the evangelical churches have become the second strongest religious group, after the Catholic Church, that is, they represent the religious minority with the largest number of people in each country. In view of the legal, cultural and social achievements of the feminist movement and the sexual diversity movement in favor of the construction of a secular sexual morality, evangelical churches, from their places of religious enunciation, have established a citizen and political position to challenge the regulation of contemporary sexual morality. Even the specialization of some of its representatives in political, juridical and social issues has led to legitimizing the defense of a conservative sexual morality based on rights, liberties and scientific arguments, secular practices that have characterized the feminist movement and the sexual diversity movement. Through a qualitative methodology, this paper will analyze the religious and political tactics of the evangelical churches in Mexico in three scenarios in which the construction of a secular sexual morality is disputed: 1) The right to decide on one's own body, which implies freedom to express the sexual orientation and build the gender identity. 2) The right to same-sex marriage and 3) The right of homosexuals and lesbians to build a family.