The Gran Varones is a legacy project that uses stories for Latino & Afro-Latino Gay and Queer* men
Louie: So Happy Birthday!
Juan: Yes! Thanks Mom and Dad. I am 42 and still going strong.
Louie: How are you different at 42 than when you were 22?
Juan: I’m not so much in a rush. Family is my main goal and enjoying our time together. I also am into photography. I love taking pictures all around Philadelphia.
Louie: What is the greatest lesson you have learned and how did you learn it.
Juan: Believe in love and I found that out through heartbreak.
Louie: You’re a twin, right? How are y'all different?
Juan: He’s smarter and more analytical. I’m more social and kinder…maybe even a little more naive.
Louie: You’re the cuter one?
Juan: No comment! LOL
Juan Carlos Ortiz, Philadelphia
Interviewed & Photographed by: Louie A. Ortiz-Fonseca
Louie: You are the “heart and soul” of ACT UP Philadelphia, describe what is the current state of AIDS in our community?
Jose: We are silent, and what HIV history has taught us over that last 3 decades is SILENCE = DEATH. When we stop being silent and demand what we need we will stop being infected, and dying.
When Governor Wolf was candidate Wolf he said he would make an announcement to END AIDS in Pa by 2020. He said that to my face and shook my hand. No he cannot end AIDS but it is possible to dramatically lower infection rates. Easy access to HIV meds and access to Prep to those at high risk. Especially young Latino and black MSM and trans folks. His office will not return phone calls or requests for a meeting. Just like former Gov. Tom Corbett, he said he would use medicaid dollars to house homeless people with chronic illnesses. People with AIDS are still dying in the street. Especially Kensington. How long do we wait? How many new infections? How many more die homeless with AIDS?
My mother is Colombian, dad was Scottish-Irish, and I was
born in Florida. I grew up in the Deep
South of North Florida: pick-up trucks, red necks, boiled peanuts, beaches and clear
springs. Also the Southeast headquarters
of the KKK. People tried to
assimilate. When mom picked me up from kindergarten
I’d beg her to not speak Spanish.
Nevertheless, mom taught me to be both a proud Colombian as well as US
citizen at an early age. I had no qualms
about wearing a beautiful poncho around other kids, and saying I was Colombian when
asked. We were token Latinos in a small town,
as the only others I knew were a Mexican family and a Cuban family, y el orgullo Colombiano es verdad! My secret attraction to the other boys also made
me feel like an outsider—a foreigner—and with an absent, workaholic father, a
strong mother figure, and almost all of my living relatives in Colombia, me sientia y me siento Colombiano con mis
raíces en Colombia. Brass artifacts
of Colombian gods adorned our home, captured the imagination, and allowed the
young mind to soar with them.
Only after moving to a big city as an adult did I find
myself beginning to understand what it’s like being a second-generation Latino,
not so fluent in Spanish and not feeling or perceived as Latino enough. In this sense being a second generation
Latino can be akin to the gay experience: identifying and belonging mixed with
not identifying and not belonging. Though
straddling communities can feel alienating, it can also be empowering. It can help to bring people together, bridge
communities, share culture, and work towards common purposes. The open space between realities allows room
to dream, weave connections, cross-pollinate, and create. This sense of living between worlds at times
has also helped to bring a sense of magic realism to living.
GV: so your tattoo reads “you only live once,” why did you choose to get that tattooed on your arm?
Dantè Gonzalez: well, i got it because of the belief behind it’s meaning. my mom who was and continues to be my rock, lived every day as her last, especially through her fight with cancer. so that inspired the tattoo and it still inspires me.“
“you realize that other people have come before you did the work and you must honor them by also doing the work and that work could be very different. that work doesn’t have to be chaining yourself to a building or handcuffing yourself to pharmaceutical gates like we did many years ago with ACT-UP, but you gotta do something. at some point or another, someone is going to come up against you whether it’s overt or in your face. whether it’s being in a room where you’re afraid for the very core essence of yourself. i think that all of the men who have participated in this project and the men who have agreed to be interviewed on camera are leading a legacy of voices. it’s important that those that come after us do not have to start from scratch, that there is a history and legacy. and legacy isn’t about history, it is about stepping up at the moment. as they say, represente.” - david acosta
on friday, april 17, 2015, gran varones creator louie a. ortiz was invited to speak at a press conference at city hall about the exclusion of latino lgbtq immigrants in the presidential immigration relief action. here is his speech:
My name is Louie A. Ortiz, creator of the Gran Varones, a multi-media project that shines light on Latino queer communities. Like many other Latino LGBTQ people in our communities, I am a parent. I am the sole provider for my son. I do not have complete legal custody of my child and someone in my shoes could be separated from their family if we are not included in the protection DACA and DAPA provides. While this presidential action will provide relief for members in our community, many will be excluded.
This Presidential action is only a first step. Any immigration benefit derived from the “traditional” idea of family, leaves out many LGBTQ people in our community whose families are frequently not recognized under the law. Policies are needed to recognize families similar to mine.
These kinds of exclusions continue to leave LGBTQ people at risk of being detained in jails that are incredibly unsafe and inhumane, particularly for transgender women who continue to be detained with men. LGBTQ Latinos are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and leaders in our communities. It is our commitment to advocate for wide-ranging policies that ensure that everyone is included in this protection so that families similar to mine are not torn apart. #Not1Mo
“joining the military changed my life. i was accepted and never experienced any kind of bias from my friends. the only hard part about the military was that i was away from my family. i missed them so much and some days were harder than others. but all in all, the experience made me a better and more confident man.” - Jimmy #GranVarones
we must rage. we must incite and invite each other to action! in just one month, four trans women of color have been murdered. when children ask us 10 years from now “what did y'all do?” what will we say? we must work to ensure that our trans* sisters, mothers, aunts, partners and family members are safe. we are the keepers of our communities and we must keep watch. this can no longer happen on our watch!
as a grassroots project, we will continue to advocate for all of our communities. we ask, invite and demand that all gran varones join us in supporting all trans-led efforts in dismantling the ongoing structural violence and systematic oppression that our trans* familia face on a daily basis. WE MUST ACT NOW!
Today we invite all Gran Varones and allies who believe in love and freedom to join us on social media as we call, scream and yell for the freedom of Oscar Lopez-Rivera.
Why? Because we stand on the shoulders of Oscar and every Boricua revolutionary who without social media, without all of the luxuries we take for granted today, courageously organized and fought for our independence. His love and commitment to our culture, our lives and freedom continues to inspire and ignite every Boricua activist today.
Arrested in 1981 with 13 other revolutionaries, Oscar was sentenced to 55 years in prison. In 1999, Oscar was granted clemency by President Bill Clinton, but Oscar refused his own freedom until his 13 fellow revolutionaries were granted freedom. He is now the last of these revolutionaries still in prison. So we join and invite you to join an international call for is release.
Pull out your phones or log onto your computers now! Post a message on twitter and/or facebook calling for the release of Oscar Lopez. Let him and the world know that we stand with him. Use the #FreeOscarLopez and #Gift4Oscar hashtags.
To stay updated on Oscar and other Boricua revolutionary movements, follow the organizers of this social media campaign larespuestamedia
“2015, this will be the year that I’ll be more focused with my career and life goals, I have so many projects and opportunities that I can’t wait to to take part of and share with you guys! So with that *Clink* cheers! Happy New Year!” - Brandon Bermudez [check out his amazing work on instagram @bronbermudez
“There is just something about this community (The Radical Fairies) that is about heart. At the same time, it is about blurring the lines and self-discovery and authenticity. It has allowed me to feel safe enough to explore who I am and who I think I am.” Didier Garcia
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!
“I always knew that I wanted kids after I finished my schooling. I am Latino, gay and a father; it has changed my life. So do not allow anyone to dictate who you are and who you can be in life. Empower yourself to be the author of your own future.” - David Agosto, Philadelphia PA
GV: What inspired you to write your song “La Vida Me Hizo Comprender”?
Yoniel: It was inspired by true events in my life. Stuff we have all gone through growing up gay and figuring out this whole transition and also been bullyied for it. It really left a scar. But then as I grew up, I realized that I can’t stay stuck in the past like a victim because I can’t do nothing about my past. I can only change my future and ask God not to abandon me.
The song also talks about a little boy (me) alone crying in his room for not having been accepted by his friends and family for the way he was or acted. He didn’t even know he was gay, he just knew he was and felt difrent. And if i had to go back in time i would be stronger than I was back then.
