Mexico masculinity summit proceeds amid backlash over public funding claims

A masculinity summit in Jalisco proceeded on Friday under a cloud of questions over whether public money helped underwrite a private event built around conservative gender ideals. The gathering, marketed by organizers as the “largest masculinity congress in Latin America,” was set at the Santuario de los Mártires in Tlaquepaque, on the edge of Guadalajara, and drew immediate scrutiny because tickets were advertised at as much as about $430.

At the center of the dispute is a 400,000-peso subsidy, approved by Guadalajara’s subsidy committee on March 27, 2026, that local reporting said was meant to cover speakers’ fees, lodging and advertising. An official document reportedly tied the support to Aventura y Formación SA de CV, the company linked to organizer Andrés Villaseñor Urrea, who has also been identified with the Regnum Christi movement. The logos of Jalisco, Guadalajara and Zapopan briefly appeared on sponsor materials before later being removed, and the three governments later said they were not funding the event.

The controversy escalated after President Claudia Sheinbaum publicly asked Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus to explain whether public funds were used. The question has landed in a politically sensitive setting: Mexico is a secular state, and its constitution restricts sponsorship of religious events. That tension was sharpened by the summit’s own schedule, which included prayer, music, a footballers panel and workshops such as “Mastering the Sexual Chaos of Modern Man,” blurring the line between a self-help conference and a faith-linked gathering.

Organizers said the event responded to what they described as an attack on masculinity. Its lineup included Jordan Peterson, Mexican actor and activist Eduardo Verastegui, former soccer captain Carles Puyol, former Brazil midfielder Kaka and several Catholic figures, reinforcing the event’s ideological and religious tone. Critics said the optics were especially troubling in a state facing deep violence against women and girls. Government data cited in reporting showed 756 women were violently killed in Mexico in the first two months of the year, along with thousands of rape complaints and more than 162,000 emergency calls related to gender and domestic violence.

Luz Leon of the rights group Balance said the event was hard to justify in a place marked by violence and disappearances, and a formal complaint filed by Balance and 35 other associations called for officials to account for the funding decision and investigate who authorized it. The dispute has become more than a local budget fight, testing how far governments should go in supporting ideologically charged events with public money.