they tell us that our kind of love is dangerous. we say that our kind of love is revolutionary. we are cure to ending stigma and ending the HIV epidemic in our communities.
THE GRAN VARONES
The Gran Varones is a legacy project that uses video and photography to tell the stories of Latino & Afro-Latino Gay, Queer and Trans men. Our stories shine light on what being “out” and “proud” means to us, our families, and our communities.GRAN VARONES HONORED
(yvette santiago, sadie ramos, anthony leon, samantha martinez & louie a. ortiz-fonseca) photo by jose hernandez
two years ago Anthony Leon sat in my office and after discussing the invisibility and erasure of Latino gay men in philly, we dreamt up the gran varones. we called Sean Laughlin (our video editor) into the office and he was like “cool. when do we start shooting?” so with no money, a few iPhones, a flip cam, Sean’s shoddy microphone and Anthony’s car, we set out to document the stories of latino gay men.
photo by jose hernandez
never did i imagine the impact and reach this project would have. i certainly never imagined being presented with the prestigious Vision Aware for Creative Artist of the Year by the Hispanic Choice Awards this past Saturday night.
the community that i have (re)discovered while working on this project has provided healing and hope for my raging heart. it is this love that continues to inspire me to challenge systems of oppression that are committed to reducing our experiences and existence as latino gay men to “hot,” “sexy” and “spicy.”
(louie a. ortiz-fonseca, anthony leon, emmanuel coreano and fran cortes)
thank yous:
to the varones who generously and courageously shared their stories: you are my heroes and i salute you. it is your magic and your light that make this project shine.
to Javier Suarez, Cecilia Ramirez and the entire team at Hispanic Choice awards: thank you for everything! i am humbled and honored.
(samantha martinez, nikki lopez, louie, carlos nunez and david agosto)
to Carlos Nunez: who called me a few months back and said “listen, people better nominate you for this award.” i know you can win it!“ you put it out into the universe.
to galaei: thank you for believing and supporting our project from day one. also, thank you for always providing space (on always short notice lol) for us to film interviews.
to all of the mothers, fathers, grand mothers, grand fathers, aunts, uncles, cousins, niece, nephews, neighbors and friends who love & support varones in their life: you help change the narrative that latinos are “more” homophobic than other communities.
to EVERY varòn: you matter right now. not for what you were or what you may be - but for what you are now. you matter right now.
- louie a. ortiz-fonseca
photo by jose hernandez
I was 18 and she was 24 when we met. We were both sitting and waiting to be interviewed for a position at a short-lived agency that we would later promise each other to never speak of. This was the living in a community house – Kensington welfare rights organizing – hipster Gloria. We both got the jobs we interviewed for and that made us co-workers. The love and friendship that followed would make us family.
We were two of the few queer* Latinos working and advocating for youth in Philly’s LGBTQ community. I would say that we were fearless but honestly, we were young, hopeful and driven by our fear of not being seen and heard. We’d sit and share battle scar stories. She shared the struggle of balancing her privilege of education and community organizing. I shared my struggle of growing up in a house with crack-addicted mother and wanting to break free. This made us each other’s confidant but the love made us family.
Gloria provided me opportunities to see a world outside of North Philly. She would pick me up from 9th and Indiana to take me to art shows and to restaurants that I never knew existed. Through her I discovered the music of Ani Defranco, Björk and The Roots. I discovered hummus, purple tortilla chips and black olives; things my Puerto Rican mother never purchased! It was through Gloria that I discovered my magic. This made her my mentor but the love made us family.
When I experienced my first heartbreak and lost my mind, she took me to a bookstore and said, “Pick out any journal book you want. It’s my treat.” When I was a dancer and had no way of getting to the airport, she woke up early on a Saturday morning and drove like a bat outta hell to make sure I didn’t miss my flight. When I turned 21, she said “Wear your Friday night outfit, I am taking you out to get blasted!” When I had no place to go on Thanksgiving, she took me to her family’s house – for several years! When my brother died, she rushed to my side and said “Get dressed. We need to get breakfast.” On the day my brother’s murderer was found guilty and his family threatened to harm my mom outside of the courthouse, Gloria rushed over and dropped my mother to a safe place. After, she took me out to eat. Now that I think about it, we spent a lot of time together in her car – all of her cars. We spent a lot of our time eating, laughing, bitching, debating and drinking. We spent a lot of time loving and admiring the people we both had become.
The last time Gloria and I had lunch, we worked on the text that would eventually make it on the Gran Varones postcard. We chatted about the next wave of our revolution. We talked about the future and all that we would become.
Gloria was one of the most amazing people I have ever met. To most she was a fearless activist, community organizer and fierce leader. Those things made her legendary, but to me, she was my sister who did what we set out to do – change the world!
I miss you Gloria. Rest in power, my sexy dreamer. —
GV: So you have been crowned Mr. Latino History Project, what is the importance of that title for you?
Ivan: The importance of being part of the Latino History Project is to help my community and have a major impact on the youth I work with; empowering them to overcome the obstacles that affect their daily lives. They are from communities that have limited resources and access to adequate education, employment opportunities and health services. This title has provided me the opportunity to become a better advocate and mentor by challenging me to take my community work to the next level. All these things are why it is important to me to be a part of the Latino History Project. – Ivan Aguilar [Washington, DC]
GV: Tell us about something about you.
Tomàs My name is Tomaàs, I’m from Florida and I currently live in North East Philadelphia. I am half Puerto Rican and half Mexican.
GV: What do you think of Philadelphia’s Queer* Latino Community so far?
Tomàs: It’s very different from where I am from and it’s a lot harder to make friends. A lot of people are not very social and I am a very social person. In the two years that I have been here, I have met four other gay Latinos but only two of them were friendly.
GV: Well you have friends now, you’re a gran varòn!
Interview with Louie A. Ortíz, director of the film “The Gran Varones” a storytelling project documenting the stories of gay and queer-identifying Boricua and Latino men.Chequéalo →
“Barbershops! That is the quintessential space where young gay men feel the most uncomfortable. The conversations are always heavily macho. As a kid, I always felt uncomfortable whenever I had to go. Only as I got older, did I find my comfort in that zone, in hyper-masculine spaces.” - Rafael Alvarez Febo [Philadelphia]
Didier shares his story and reminds us that freedom is discovered when we find and build community.
Check out a preview of David Agosto’s story.
GV: What does being in love mean to you?
Taz: Love isn’t blind or deaf or dumb - in fact it sees far more than it will ever tell. It is going beyond yourself and stretching who you are for someone else. Being in love entails seeing someone as you wish they were; to love them is to see who they really are and still care for them. Love isn’t bitter, but you can’t have love without pain. Sacrifice is the hallmark of love, the coin of love. Love means that you trust the person, would do anything for the person, know that person is with you through thick and thin and isn’t afraid to be seen with you.
this past Monday, gran varones creator Louie A. Ortiz-Fonseca and fellow gran varon Miguel Esteban Andrade shared their “coming out” stories at storytelling event hosted by Galaei Philly and Vamos Juntos. here is video of this amazing event.
