Calexico’s first transgender mayor, who wears extravagant dresses and makeup, faces recall after voters complained they thought they were voting a man into office.
Mayor Raúl Ureña, 26, was recently heckled by a protester at a gay pride flag-raising ceremony in Jube.
The protester, Rebecca Lemon, had to be pulled away by three police officers when she lunged at the city’s mayor and cursed. Lemon shouted: ‘She’s not a woman! She is not a woman! Then she, surprisingly, kicked the mayor’s father.
Ureña was elected to office in 2020 at the age of 23 and came out as transgender and genderfluid in 2022, after her re-election.
Lemon is now leading a recall effort to remove Ureña from office, with a vote scheduled for next week on the mayor’s fate.
Calexico’s first transgender mayor faces recall after voters complained they thought they were voting a man into office.
Mayor Raúl Ureña, 26, was elected to office in 2020 at the age of 23 and came out as transgender and genderfluid in 2022, after his re-election.
In June, protesters booed her at a pride flag-raising ceremony in Jube, where an avid Ureña hater shouted “she’s not a woman!”
Ureña eventually began wearing dresses and makeup in official appearances, irritating voters who felt deceived because they believed they were voting for a cisgender gay man and not a transgender woman.
Ureña received a recall suit the following spring, but Ureña was still elected mayor of Calexico in November 2022.
Lemon has long been the face of a campaign fighting to remove Ureña from office, and she had personally served him with impeachment papers.
The transgender public official tore the papers in half.
Even though other members of the recall campaign distanced themselves from Lemon after his outburst, they have continued their efforts to remove Ureña from public office.
They successfully forced a recall election for Ureña and another progressive councilman, Gilberto Manzanarez.
Both young and liberal public officials will face a vote on April 16 to determine their political fate.
Protesters successfully forced a recall election for Ureña and another progressive councilman, Gilberto Manzanarez.
‘This man is the mayor of Calexico, his name is Raúl Ureña and we are seeing him protesting with Black Lives Matter. Those people don’t even belong in this city. Here, city of Mexicans, we are carrying out a recall. Go look for him here on Tiktok so you can see that we do not occupy a person so he represents us,’ says the caption in Spanish.
Calexico is a city in southern Imperial County that sits on the border of Mexico and California.
The city’s population of about 38,000 is largely made up of Democratic voters, but from the 2016 to 2020 elections, Republican voters increased from less than 10 percent to nearly 27 percent.
Those pushing for Ureña’s removal from office have stated that “during this removal, we want to remind everyone to be respectful of personal sexual preferences, as this is not the platform.”
However, the actions of his former campaign leader suggest otherwise.
After Lemon’s attack, former Mayor Maritz Hurtado became the new public face of the campaign.
Calexico residents took to social media when Ureña became mayor to criticize the politician for his appearance.
When images of Ureña in a dress surfaced, people said “how disgusting” and “this must be a joke.”
Ureña opened up about his struggles as a member of the LGBTW+ community and admitted that his parents told him to hide his sexual orientation when he came out at the age of 17.
Ureña opts for dresses that reveal her hairy chest, bold makeup, bright colors, jewelry, and high heels that make her stand out for better or worse.
Ureña was criticized with recall papers in spring 2022, but Ureña was still elected mayor of Calexico in November 2022.
Diana Silva, a Calexico resident, said she felt uncomfortable with the image Ureña is giving but she is also not happy with her job on the city council, according to Beyond border news.
Ureña opened up about his struggles as a member of the LGBTW+ community and admitted that his parents told him to hide his sexual orientation when he came out at the age of 17.
“My parents wanted me to keep it to myself because they were worried about my safety,” she said. “My father wasn’t very happy with me making my sexual orientation public, so I decided to quit and go to school.”