On Sunday, Mexican women in the town of San Jacinto Amilpas held a mock wedding ceremony to “marry” trees. These Roman Catholic women weren’t switching to an odd version of paganism where trees can give consent for marriage, but rather enacting an eye-grabbing quasi-environmentalist protest.
One of the “brides” told Ruptly that her “wedding” was a formal protest in favor of the trees.
“I thought it was very interesting the fact, the commitment we have not only with this tree, but with all nature, and how much we have already damaged this, so I decided to come to see the ritual and commit myself in the same way,” Andrea Tanant, another bride, told Ruptly.
The wedding was not truly about love or about expressing a “commitment” to nature, but about protesting illegal logging, Britain’s Metro online newspaper reported. “The wedding was designed to draw attention to the problem of illegal logging in San Jacinto Amilpas, Oaxaca state.”
Roughly a third of Mexico’s land area is covered by forest, and criminal groups engage in illegal logging across the country. Oaxaca is one of the five states worst hit by deforestation. As Metro reported, “the ‘marriage’ stunt campaigners hope to raise the profile of attempts to protect woodland.”
An independent wedding planner had some fun with this story on Twitter. “Women in Mexico have given up on men and decided to marry trees instead. Their new grooms aren’t very talkative, but they are tall, do great things for the planet & are renowned for their wood,” joked a user who goes by the name “Fairy Wedmother.”
Women in Mexico have given up on men and decided to marry trees instead. Their new grooms aren’t very talkative, but they are tall, do great things for the planet & are renowned for their wood #weddinghttps://t.co/otggHo16wZ
— Fairy Wedmother 👰 (@fairywedmother) February 26, 2018
The protest may seem environmentalist, but in the context of Oaxaca, it takes on another dimension when considering the prevalence of criminal gangs. These women were protesting logging and deforestation, but these actions are carried out by lawless thugs.
By the way, the weddings didn’t just involve brides and trees. One groom “married” a tree bedecked in a veil.
As an aside, this protest makes a great deal more sense than last year’s “People’s Climate March” in Washington, D.C. — a hodgepodge of Leftist protesters dressed as Tyrannosaurus Rexes, Native Americans, Captain Planet, and Pink Flamingoes. Compared to that, a good old-fashioned wedding to protest illegal gangs sounds downright conservative.
Click “Load More” to watch part of the ceremony below.
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