Amplifying Queer & Trans history and the stories of Latinx & Afro-Latinx Gay | Queer | Trans | Bisexual Men & Bois
JUSTICE FOR ROXSANA WEEK OF ACTION
Roxsana Hernandez was a 33-year old transgender woman from Honduras who decided to come to the United States seeking a better future. She left Honduras because she didn’t feel safe, and threats had been made against her life.
After journeying through Guatemala and Mexico, and joining the migrant caravan, she turned herself in at the San Ysidro port of entry in San Diego on May 9, 2018 seeking asylum.
Buzzfeed interviewed her before she turned herself in at the border and is quoted as saying, “I didn’t want to come to Mexico — I wanted to stay in Honduras but I couldn’t. They kill trans people in Honduras. I’m scared of that.” Once she was in ICE custody, she was put in a hielera, or “icebox.” On May 9, 2018, she was transferred to Cibola Detention Center in New Mexico. Even though she asked for medical care, she wasn’t given any. The following day she was taken by air ambulance to Lovelace Medical Center in Albuquerque. She was in the intensive care unit there until May 25 when she died.
Last year, FamiliaTQLM, the Transgender Law Center, the Law Office of Andrew R. Free, and Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project – BLMP filed a Notice of Wrongful Death Tort Claim in New Mexico, the first step in holding all parties responsible for Roxsana Hernandez’s death accountable.
This Week of Action is meant to honor Roxsana Hernandez’ life and to hold every person, and institution, that she came into contact with, accountable for her death given that with the proper care she would be with us today.
ICE continues to deny responsibility for her death but we won’t stop until we get #JusticeforRoxsana.
Follow @familiatqlmfor ways to support this effort.
gran varones turns 5 this year and what better way to begin that celebration by announcing our first fellowship for hiv positive varones creatives.
the positive digital arts fellowship will work with 5 hiv positive latinx and afro-latinx men who identify as gay, queer, trans or bi. the fellowship will provide support and tools on creating digital content that challenges hiv stigma and promotes family acceptance.
for more information or to check out the application
i am just five days shy of the second anniversary of my 40th birthday. you can celebrate with me by buying me a long island iced tea (with pineapple juice 🍹) - but instead of actually buying me one, you can donate that $15 to THE GRAN VARONES
for the past 4 years, gran varones has been committed to amplifying queer and aids history and the stories of latinx and afro-latinx gay, queer, trans, bi men and bois.
the project is completely volunteer-based and thrives because of community support. so please consider celebrating my birthday with me by donating.
on june 5, 1981, the center for disease control (cdc) published an article in its morbidity and mortality weekly report (mmwr): pneumocystis pneumonia—los angeles. the article described cases of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia(pcp), a rare lung infection, in five young, white, previously healthy gay men in los angeles. the report stated that all of the men had other unusual infections in to pcp, indicating that their immune systems were not working. by the time the report was published, two of the five men had died and the other died soon after. this was the very first official reporting of what later became the aids epidemic.
in 1981, there were 234 known deaths due to aids, which before 1982 was actually called gay related immune deficiency (grid) by both health officials and mainstream media. this framing and the fear mongering messaging that immediately followed, along with the us government’s willful inaction, helped to create an epidemic that continues to impact our communities globally.
someone once said that the shortest distance between life and death was aids. by 1993, just five years after then president reagan publically acknowledged the epidemic, aids was the leading cause of death for american ages 25-44.
38 years since the cdc report, we have witnessed profound breakthroughs in hiv treatment, prevention and even how it covered in some media outlets. however, black and latinx gay men, trans men and trans women continue to be disproportionately impacted and criminalized even as the hiv non-profit industry has gone by leaps and bounds.
hiv is still a social justice issue.
hiv is still a racial justice issue.
hiv is still a health issue.
no one is truly living without hiv in a world where it continues to impact those on the margins.
so on this day, we remember those who marched in past pride parades with zero t-cells. we remember those who yelled, “act up! fight back, fight aids!” we carry their legacies as we celebrate stonewall 50. we still rage and mourn because many of them would still be here had it not been for aids.
photo circa 1989 • philadelphia puerto rican day parade • courtesy of David acosta
on june 8, 2016, after making national news for the pervasive anti-blackness in the gayborhood, philadelphia unveiled their new official pride flag. what made this pride flag notable was that it included black and brown stripes. while it was celebrated by many, it also pissed off many gays who said it was a publicity stunt and that the flag was ruined because it the additional stripes made it about race. ha!
in the two years since, the same gays who hated the flag are now the same ones waving it. mainly because the narrative about the reasons why the flag was created had been so watered down or frankly, just forgotten. .
here is a quick history.
in 2015, gran varones along with the black & brown cooperative, philly for real justice, act up philadelphia, journalist ernest owens and countless others began to sound the alarm on the anti-blackness and violence of gay club owners and lgbtq non-profit leadership. city officials discounted accused us of being the “problem” by “creating division” in the gayborhood.
spearheaded by the BBWC, we supported the successful campaign to get both the director of the office of lgbtq affairs and the ceo of the largest lgbtq organization in the state to resign. because of the campaign and strategic organizing and direct actions, the city created policies that would hold lgbtq businesses and organizations accountable for their anti-blackness. all of this was made possible but the same black and brown queer & trans folks who sacrificed their bodies, social capital and employment to demand accountability.
it was this radical resistance and organizing that inspired philadelphia to adopt the #MoreColorMorePride flag. yes, the flag serves as a reminder of black and brown LGBTQ+ community members but it is also a reminder of black and brown queers and trans resistance. this flag was a product of shifting an entire city to address its anti-blackness.
without the courageous work of the mentioned groups, sharron cook, christian axavier lovehall and many others, this new pride flag would not be possible. may this be remembered 50 years from now.
This #KikisWithLouie is dedicated to Nigel Shelby and all the LGBTQ youth of color like him who are facing harassment and bullying. LGBTQ youth of color deserve to lead safe and healthy lives in supportive and non-toxic environments. In the latest #KikisWithLouie, Louie returns to Philadelphia to discuss navigating stigma and harassment with young leaders at Galaei , a local queer Latinx social organization that sustained Louie when he was a teenager.
it has been two years since christopher collins left this world. he was 37 years old. he was my first love and for years, my only love. he was an integral part of hiv prevention youth program development in philadelphia.
we met in the mid 1990s. we were a part of a group of black & brown queer & trans youth who were minding themselves. we didn’t have many mentors as most of the adults in our lives were either dying, caring for the dying or traumatized by the impact hiv/aids had on our community.
we were kids building rome with bricks cemented by our commitment to fuckin’ exist without apologies and shame. we bought our first rainbow necklaces together. we imagined a world for us that was yet to be written about in the books we read but we still imagined.
we both worked in hiv non-profit. that shit drained us both of life and spirit. we built programs that we had no access to. we gave the world everything including our relationship.
chris and i would work together again in 2012. we facilitated a weekly youth group for black & brown trans & queer youth. we joked about all that we survived. we cried about how the work & movement sometimes does not love you back.
chris wanted the movement and work to love him back. some of us learn to breathe through straws under the weight of the world that tells us we are not enough, our love is not enough. and some of us choose to fly in a dimension where oxygen is not restricted. chris chose the latter.
chris, the loss of your spirit is felt by those of us who survived hiv prevention of the 1990s. it is felt by those of us who continue to (barely) survive the non-profit industrial complex. your loss is felt by everyone who thought this work would save us.
chris was my first love. he was my friend. he was one of the most important relationships i had in this work. i miss his laugh. i miss him. today, i raise him up.
rest well, chris.
if you are feeling alone and/struggling right now, remember that lifeline is here for you. call the national suicide prevention hotline at 1.800.273.TALK (8255)
may 21 will mark the 40th anniversary of the white night riots that took place in san francisco in 1979 after dan white was sentenced to just 8 years in prison for the murder of mayor george moscone and supervisor harvey milk.
by the turn of the 1970’s, the castro district of san francisco had become a queer & trans utopia that provided a sense of sexual freedom, liberation, and self-realization. however, both local and national anti-gay legislation & sentiments were threatening that paradise.
in 1977, miss america runner-up & florida citrus orange juice “queen” lead a successful “save our children” campaign to overturn a dade county ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. that win launched a nat’l movement against the lgbtq community.
in 1978, harvey milk, the first out gay man to be elected to public office in CA, helped to get a non-discrimination ordinance signed in to SF law & was integral in mobilizing lgbtq folks and allies to shut down a statewide bill to ban gay teachers.
former cop dan white, who was elected to the SF board of supervisors the same time as harvey, was the only board member to vote against the non-discrimination bill. embarrassed and angered that his own bills failed, white resigned from his position on november 10, 1978.
in the following weeks, white reconsidered his decision and asked to be reappointed to his position. after being told during a radio interview that another person would be appointed to the board in his place, dan white set out to punish those he felt had humiliated him.
on the morning of november 27, 1978, dan white snuck into city hall through a side window & with a loaded 38 caliber smith & wesson, and traveled to city hall. walked into the office of mayor george moscone, an ally of harvey’s & shot him 4 times, 2 shots to the head.
as dan white rushed through the hall searching harvey milk, he stop to reload his gun. when he found harvey down the hall, white shot harvey 5 times, two times in the head. the murders shocked an already devastated city who that just beginning to process the jonestown massacre.
in may of 1979, white was tried for 2 counts of 1st degree murder. however, the mostly older white & working class jury delivered a guilty verdict of voluntary manslaughter w/ sentence of just 8 yrs. for gay community, this was further proof that the justice system was anti-gay.
thousands marched to city hall to protest the verdict. some held signs that read, “pity for the privilege, death penalty for the poor” and “white(s) get away with murder.” as the crowd grew, the pain and disappointment quickly turned into collective rage.
outnumbered by the gays, cops retreated as the gays rioted at city hall breaking windows. when things subsided, folks headed back to the castro district. in retaliation, police descended onto the castro and invaded a gay bar later that night.
police violently struck gay patrons. still filled with complete fury and disdain of the police state and justice system, the gays fought back and set police cars on fire. by the end of the night, dozens of police cars were set ablaze and 20 people were arrested.
the white night riots are an important chapter in queer history. on the night of may 21, 1979, the san francisco gays challenged the police state and defended themselves from police violence. they set the city on fire.
the following san francisco pride, marchers held signs that read “lesbians against police violence” & “end police violence.” cops were seen as a threat to queer liberation. later that year, in november of 1979, close to 100,000 people marched in support gay rights in DC.
the white night riots signaled a continued a trans & queer revolution that was ignited during the stonewall uprising 10 years earlier. pride marches were political and even more so just two years later when the aids epidemic began its assault on the queer community
sadly, in many ways, the aids epidemic truncated the revolution that we were on the brink of by stealing the lives of those who knew our liberation could never be realized under the police state.
BAN POLICE FROM PRIDE!
this pride season, may we all remember that the first pride was a riot. every culture shift for our basic human rights have been because of riots and direct actions. this year, honor black and brown trans women who rioted for us. remember the white night rioters by banning police
“i get this conformist shit from queens all the time. they always want to read me. they always want me to do it their way. i am not going to conform to the gay lifestyle as they see it and that’s for sure.” - sylvester
sylvesterjames jr. september 6, 1947 - december 16, 1988 black, queer, and a visionary who bent gender, musical genres and eventually time.
born in watts, losangeles, sylvester crafted his vocal stylings in the church. he often said his entire being was inspired by black women in the church. after spending a few years in the sylvester and the hot band, sylvester scored his first hit in 1978, when the lead single “disco heat”, featuring two tons of fun aka the weather girls, from his successful album “step II” became his first top 40 hit.
it was just a few months later in january of 1979, sylvester became an ICON when “you make me feel (mighty real)” set dance floors on fire. originally recorded as a mid-tempo piano driven gospel song, but patrickcowley, electronic dance music pioneer, offered to remix the song. changing the sound of dance music forever.
after a few years of battling with his record label over creative differences, (they even had him record an album w/o his falsetto voice), sylvester signed to megatone. in 1982, sylvester returned to the top of the dance charts with the patrickcowley produced “do you wanna funk.”
patrick cowley & sylvester built the foundation of high n-r-g music. sadly, their partnership did not last. while touring with sylvester in europe, patrick fell ill and returned the united states. with the AIDS epidemic just beginning and medical providers knowing close to nothing, patrick was diagnosed with food poisoning. his health began to deteriorate and when he was finally diagnosed with HIV (called GRID then), patrick was sent home after doctors could do no more for him.ith the AIDS epidemic just beginning,
on november 12, 1982, cowley was one of the first gay artists to die from what would later be called aids. he was just 32 years old.
sylvester was after signing with warner bros. records, sylvester released “mutual attraction” his last album in 1986. the lead single “someone like you” became a hit at r&b radio and topped the dance charts.
on december 31, 1986, sylvester appeared on the late show starring joan rivers. after performing “someone like you”, he sat down to interview with joan. after noticing his wedding band, she asked, “who are you married to?” on live tv, sylvester answered, “rick.” ICONIC!
during the same appearance, sylvester mentions AIDS and the importance of taking action. he also let miss joan have it when she asks, “what did you say when your family found out you wanted to be a drag queen?” sylvester, responds, “i’m not a drag queen. i’msylvster!”
in sept of 1987, sylvester’s husband, rickcramner died due to AIDS complications. the night after rick died, sylvester performed at the victory party for the softball world series. he sang his now legendary cover of pattilabelle’s “you are my friend.”
in june of 1988, sylvester attended san francisco’scatro gay freedom parade in a wheelchair in front of the people with AIDS banner. sylvester was guant and at first the cheering crowd did not recognize him. once word got around that the person in the wheelchair was sylvester, the crowd fell silent. then the large crowd began to cheer and shouting his name, “sylvester! sylvester!”
later that year, with his mother by his side, sylvester became an ancestor when he too died due to AIDS complications.
even in the end, sylvester was committed to never hiding his extraordinary light. he planned his own funeral and insisted that he be dressed in a red kimono in an open top coffin.
today, we remember sylvester, who taken from this world far too soon, on this day 30 years ago.
“i don’t believe that AIDS is a wrath of god. people have a tendency to blame everything in god.”
psa. if we’re mutuals, we’re automatically friends. u don’t need to say things like “sorry to bother” or “sorry im annoying” bc ur not. ur my friend. u can come to me for anything. u need help? im here. wanna chat? hmu. just wanna gush abt your muse? go for it. we’re friends. ily.
miss-tries-way-too-hard