Browsing Tag

Latino

Call Me Latine: New Online Resource Helps Queer and Non-Binary Latines Define Themselves

Posted on December 29, 2020

As contentious as the word “Latinx” is, it has emerged as the most commonly used gender-neutral word for “Latino” in the United States. From politics to pop culture, “Latinx” has been used in an effort to be more inclusive of transgender and non-binary people who are of Latin American descent. However, there is a similar word that is gaining traction in the U.S. that goes further to address gender bias in the Spanish language: Latine. …

Remembering Félix González-Torres: Queer Latinx Art and the Caribbean-American ‘South’

Posted on October 2, 2019

Forty years ago, Félix González-Torres arrived in New York City from Puerto Rico, marking the beginning of his emergence as one of the most influential conceptual artists of his generation. During a brilliant career cut tragically short by his death from AIDS, the openly gay, Cuban-born, Latino-American artist produced a wide range of works that challenged spectators to participate in the creative experience and to formulate their own meanings. Through photography, billboards, and installations comprised of everyday objects, he evoked…

5 Queer Latinx Icons to Celebrate This Hispanic Heritage Month

Posted on September 13, 2019

A photo of Latinx activist Sylvia Rivera.

It’s time to give credit where credit is due. The modern-day LGBTQ-rights movement would be nowhere without the tireless efforts of the powerful and resilient queer Latinx activists who fought—and continue to fight—for LGBTQ people’s freedom to exist. Throughout history, these movers and shakers have made extraordinary strides to improve the state of trans rights, criminal justice, HIV advocacy, gender equality, and more.…

‘Peru and the City: A Pride Comedy Show’ to Showcase Gay Life in Houston

Posted on June 18, 2019

A photo of Peru Flores in Peru and the City.

The struggle is familiar and has been echoed by countless actors of color: “There were no parts for me, other than the ‘struggling friend,’ the ‘drug dealer,’ or the ‘misfit,’” says actor and writer Peru Flores, who will appear in his own comedy show, Peru and the City, this month at Rich’s in Houston. Flores’ family moved to Midland–Odessa, Texas, from Peru when he was a young teen. In the small town of oil workers and farmers, Flores was taken…

Flipping The Script: Playwright Emilio Rodriguez Centers Queer Marginalized Stories

Posted on September 14, 2018

A photo of queer playwright Emilio Rodriguez.

Out playwright Emilio Rodriguez is from everywhere and nowhere. His youth was spent all over the United States, as his father’s position in the military uprooted the family every few years. He shares experiences with so many—but his roots are nowhere to be found.…

Providing Platforms: Emilio Rodriguez Brings Queer Latino Play ‘Swimming While Drowning’ to UH

Posted on March 30, 2018

A photo of Emilio Rodriguez, playwright of Swimming While Drowning.

“You just don’t have the look.” This was the argument that queer Latino actor and playwright Emilio Rodriguez continuously faced from casting directors. After receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre studies from the University of California at Irvine, Rodriguez eagerly entered the industry only to have one audition inquiry after another declined. “So, I began writing roles for characters that look like me,” Rodriguez explains. “To represent characters who were experiencing what I went through, no matter what…

Reclaiming Roots: Sin Muros Theatre Festival Puts Queer Latinx Talent Center Stage

Posted on January 29, 2018

A photo of Josh Inocéncio performing Purple Eyes at Sin Muros Latino Theatre Festival.

Texas Latinx talent takes center stage this February 1 through 4 at Houston’s Stages Repertory Theatre during the inaugural Sin Muros Theatre Festival. Headlining this four-day event is the world premiere of the ancestral autobiography Purple Eyes, written and performed by queer Latino playwright Josh Inocéncio. Inocéncio, who is also a member of the Sin Muros task force committee, speaks on the festival’s intent. “We were looking to consciously represent diversity. A Latin theatre festival that pushes for female voices,…

Why I Won’t Use Latinx

Posted on September 6, 2017

In the past few years, “Latinx” has stormed to prominence—first in online communities, then in mainstream media platforms as well as academic discourse. “Latinx” seeks to end the gendered designations in the Spanish language, replacing “Latino” and “Latina” with a term that includes both genders, as well as gender nonconforming and non-binary people.…

An Ode to Southern Fringes: Navigating Identity as a Queer Texan and Latino

Posted on June 12, 2017

A photo of queer Texan and Latino Josh Inocencio at Axelrad Beer Garden in Houston

A third of my heart is buried in the Kentucky hills, a land of rich, black soil that nurtured my mother’s childhood. My father’s parents immigrated to the United States from Austria and Mexico, but my mother’s family has lived in eastern Kentucky for generations—far back enough that we don’t know where many of them originated before Appalachia.…

Latino

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