This past weekend in Mexico, thousands of anti-gay protesters took to the streets in opposition to the country’s adoption of same-sex marriage.
The protests sparked an iconic image that some are saying rivals the “Tank Man” image from the Tiananmen Square protests in China from 1989.
The image, first published in the Mexican media outlet Regeneracion, shows an unidentified 12-year-old standing in the path of “11,000” anti-gay marchers.
The photograph was taken by Mexican journalist Manuel Rodriguez.
“At first I thought the child was only playing,” Rodriguez said. When he interviewed the child, he said he had a gay uncle “and I hate the hatred.”
A 12 year old boy stood in front of an anti-gay protest of 11,000 people in Mexico.
This is a hero. #LoveWins pic.twitter.com/6OW8KFISR3
— Simon Curtis (@simoncurtis) September 12, 2016
The incident took place in Celaya, Guanajuato, which is one of the 9 Mexican states that have legalized same-sex marriage. Legislation is currently being pushed to bring marriage equality to 22 other states in Mexico.
Featured image via Manuel Rodriguez
