In honor of Latinx/Hispanic Heritage Month; we responded to questions at the intersections of queerness and latinxness.
Why do we use the term Latinx?
For anyone who has ever taken Spanish they will know that most words are gendered. For those who did not and have not fulfilled their foreign language requirement majority of the time you can tell the gender of a word by it ending in either the letter a, feminine, or o, masculine. In the past, someone of Latin American descent was either called Latino or Latina with Latino being considered the gender inclusive term similar to saying “Hey guys” in english. When you think about it, saying Latino is really not inclusive of everyone. There are many people who do not identify as male or female. That is where Latinx comes in; it provides an inclusive way to express an identity as well as a way to talk about people and their heritage.
Who are some famous queer Hispanic individuals from the past and present?
There are many queer Latinx and Hispanic individuals from both the past and present. Here is a list of 4 noteworthy ones with a little about them.
Frida Kahlo was an artist born in Mexico in 1907. Kahlo was famous for her paintings that often had very feminist and queer inclusive themes and undertones. Kahlo was married to another Mexican painter for many years, and Kahlo had female partners throughout her life.
Federico Garcia Lorca was a Spanish poet born in 1898. Given the time period and the lack of acceptance of homosexuality, Lorca used writing to talk about his identity as well as the politics of Spain at the time. He was killed during the Spanish Civil War for his political beliefs, but it was also rumored to be because he was gay.
Sylvia Rivera was a transgender activist born in 1951. One could call her a professional activist. She was involved with many of the fights over social issues occurring during the time. LGBT+ issues were her main focus, as she was present at the Stonewall Riots and one of the cofounders of STAR, a home that was started for young homeless drag queens and trans women.
Jennicet Gutiérrez is a transgender activist who was born in 1986. She is a co-founder of La Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement. Gutiérrez is most famous for calling out President Obama during a speech he was giving during June of 2015. Gutiérrez called Obama out for the alarmingly high rate of discrimination that trans women of color face.
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delfin (pronouns: they, them) is the Director of the LGBT Center, faculty advisor to the Latino Student Union, and adjunct lecturer for the Social Work Program and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.