LGBTQ+: A Latinx Perspective

Deni Quiles, a Puerto Rican activist and member of La Sombrilla Cuir (The queer umbrella), and Calu Lema, Colombian activist for LGBTQ + rights and gender violence, based in London. Both give their insights as representatives of different communities.

There are as many identities (or even more) as colours on the rainbow and being able to take part inside a community is now a priority. In an era were gender activism is becoming bigger and increasingly popular it is important to understand the game’s rules.

The Hyphen: To set the table, let’s begin by understanding the topic. What is gender identity?

DQ: It´s key to understand sex is different than gender. Gender is how you feel and what you feel most comfortable with. Gender has to do with how you choose to interact with others (…) and it is not binary (Men o Woman).

CL: Gender identity is how a person defines himself (or herself); your personal / internal sense of gender. The problem is that we currently have a binary script due to colonization that leaves people with only 2 options: to be a man or to be a woman.

Because of the religious influence of the Catholic Church in Latin America, LQBTQ+ movements and members were targeted and sometimes not spoken about.

TH: Some people struggle to understand why it is important to understand these differences, although communities have grown, and participation keeps growing. What is the biggest challenge to talk about identity now a days?

DQ: There is still a lot to do and explain, especially because there is still a pressure to live your gender and identify as the way you were born (anatomically speaking).

CL: The most difficult thing to explain is that each person has a different sense of identity and for the majority, that identity is related to their sex / genitals. This prevents us from collectively perceiving that this association does not work for everyone and that our identity (how it forms, evolves, changes, establishes itself), is complex and goes beyond our anatomywhich is also diverse and includes intersex people.

Something that calls attention when talking about activism is who and how much can an individual participate. At the beginning of 2020, a Latin reggaeton artist, Bad Bunny, released a music video on which he appears as both man and woman, advocating for women to “perrear solas” dancing alone.

His appearing as both genders was no surprise, because he has openly stated that he likes to dress as woman. But a controversy was brought up on why a man -even a famous one- should advocate and take on a role for a feminist cause as it is “women who are allowed to say no in a club and dance alone”.

H: Do you have to belong to a community to talk and stand on their behalf?

DQ: If you want to participate then you must know your place. If you want to be the protagonist but you are not a member of the community then you will be taking someone else´s opportunity and platform that is fighting and going through it.

CL: Anyone can be an ally to a cause as long as they do not co-opt space, misrepresent the message or focus their activism on themselves. As they say out there, feminism does not correspond to make room for men; it is up to men to turn the spaces they inhabit into feminist spaces. It is not necessary to be from the LGBTQ + community to support the protests, projects or initiatives that bring visibility and demand the rights to which the cisgender and / or heterosexual people have access. People can take advantage of their privilege to amplify voices, attract attention and raise awareness among those around them. The biggest problem is not the extremists, it is the progressives, centrists and liberals who are not aware of how they perpetuate oppression by not challenging the system that protects their identities.

PRIDE celebrations in South America and Fun Facts

Brazil – Sao Paulo competes every year with the New York City parade to see which one is the biggest. Officially activities last 5 consecutive days.

Colombia – Bogotá was the pioneer city in South America to celebrate gay pride parade 24 years ago.

Uruguay – It was the second country to legalize gay marriage in the whole south continent. Montevideo celebrates Pride in September because June is during their winter.

Ecuador- This country is still struggling to accept the LGBTQ+ community. It is the case that they are considered second-class citizens and are therefore not allowed to adopt.

Argentina- This year it celebrates 10 years of legalizing gay marriage including adoption rights. This country held their Pride day and parade in November to commemorate the creation of the first gay group “Our World” that started operations in 1967.