FILE PHOTO: Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during his daily press conference, in Acapulco, Mexico December 20, 2023. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril/File Photo
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador apologized on Tuesday for misgendering a transgender representative of his political party, after his comments sparked criticism from rights groups.
Lopez Obrador over the weekend met with Salma Luevano, one of the first trans people to become a federal lawmaker, but a day later referred to her as a "man dressed as a woman" when questioned why he greeted Luevano at a public event with a kiss on the cheek.
"I want to... offer an apology to a colleague who identifies as a woman," the president said in a daily press conference following a backlash to his comments on social media.
Various members of the LGBT+ community in the country expressed solidarity with Luevano, who belongs to Lopez Obrador's Morena party, and demanded a public apology from the president.
"Today, President Lopez Obrador offered an apology for misgendering me," the lawmaker later wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
"This statement is very important, because it makes visible a fight that has taken us decades. I am a woman... and that is not up for discussion," Luevano added.
(Reporting by Raúl Cortés Fernández; Editing by Isabel Woodford, Drazen Jorgic and Bill Berkrot)
