The Emo vs Punk war of 2008

The anti-emo movement

With the rise of the emo subculture during the early 2000s came along some hate, more specifically, in Mexico.
Many people hated emos (for seemingly no certain reason), but most of the hate they received came from punks. For a few years, the two subcultures would hate on each other in online forums.
People viewed emos as making their whole personality around depression and suicidal ideologies, and punks would go as far as thinking emos were a threat to their values. They thought of emos as effeminate, which also caused for the widespread of machismo, misogyny and homophobia in the Mexican culture.
Later on, some would adopt the slogan "Haz patria y mata a un emo" ("Make a homeland and kill an emo") and online groups with names such as Movimiento Anti Emosexual and Anti Emo Death Squad emerged, making the internet even more unsafe for those who identified with Emo values.
It was only in early 2008 that the tension seemed to achieve its limit, creating physical confrontations between these groups.

A "peaceful" march

It started on 7 March 2008, when 800 people went to the city of Querétaro with the intent of beating up emo kids. Only 28 people were arrested after they attacked three teenagers simply because they believed the Emo subculture was “gay”, and they were homophobic which goes against the Punk subculture’s values.
The following week, on 16 March at around 15h (3pm), emos would gather at the Glorieta de los Insurgentes and start a peaceful march with the intent of gaining respect and letting the world know how they were treated. Anti-emo groups led by punks got to know about the march through social media and they soon showed up to attack the emos. It started with verbal altercations (the punks accused the emos of copying their style and identity), but quickly escalated to physical fights, hitting each other with belts. About 150 police officers soon intervened and separated the two groups, but a few hours later, the fights would resume. It would only stop when Hare Krishna followers, who would usually chant in the street at that time, invited the groups to chant with them.

Years later...

There was never a signed truce, and during the next couple of years, emos were still attacked and harassed. However, a new fight as big as this one never occurred.
After a while, punks and emos found it in themselves to make peace, and there isn’t as much hate towards emos any more, although it is still permanent in today’s society.
Earlier this year (2025), a peaceful protest was held by the Emo community in Mexico City, remembering those who got injured 17 years ago.

What happened in 2008 left a mark on a whole generation, and I don’t think it is going away anytime soon.

Here are some videos to watch if you'd like to know more about this topic: