Fibers of the Past: Museums and Textiles
Every place has a unique landscape.
Category: Queer in Latin America
Populist Homophobia and its Resistance: Winds in the Direction of Progress
LGBTQ+ people and activists in Latin America have reason to feel gloomy these days. We are living in the era of anti-pluralist populism, which often comes with streaks of homo- and trans-phobia.
Editor’s Letter
This is a celebratory issue of ReVista. Throughout Latin America, LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination laws have been passed or strengthened.
A Review of In the Shadow of Quetzalcoatl: Zelia Nuttall and the Search for Mexico’s Ancient Civilizations
Merilee Grindle’s fascinating biography of Mexican-American anthropologist Zelia Nuttall (1857-1933), In the Shadow of Quetzalcoatl: Zelia Nuttall and the Search for Mexico’s Ancient Civilizations, is a welcome sign that the field of Nutall studies is expanding.
Imagining the Queer Future of Latin America: A Look at “Carmín Tropical”
In recent years, queer studies have made significant strides in various domains worldwide, including cinema, business, television, academia, street activism, politics, and sports.
“Travestis in Command of the Nation”
Black travesti activists and artists in Brazil constantly play with notions of time as they build utopian horizons.
LGBTQ+ Bars in Latin America: A Reporter’s Notebook
La Purísima is an unapologetically irreverent gay bar on Avenida República de Cuba in downtown Mexico City. One of its most endearing features is the staff who dress as Catholic priests and nuns.
Cuir Mourning & Mobilization in Times of Displacement
On May 10, 2018, Bruno Alonso Avendaño Martínez disappeared in Oaxaca, Mexico, without any explanation.
Learning about Cuba’s LGBTQ+ Community: The Genesis of a Book
Cuba’s held a fascination for me ever since I was in high school in Puerto Rico. I explored the food, music and art of the neighboring island, quite abundant in my homeland, but always knew that different perspectives and adventures could only be experienced in Cuba itself.
Latin America’s Gay Rights Revolution: Revisiting Out in the Periphery
My book Out in the Periphery heralded Latin America’s emergence as the “undisputed champion of gay rights in the Global South,” a momentous happening considering the region’s historic reputation as a bastion of Catholicism and machismo.
Arturo’s (After) Lives: Gender Transgression in the Argentine Archives
While writing a monograph about the histories of gender transgression in Argentina, I found photographs of Arturo de Aragónin the national archives (AGN). He was in a folder that defined him and many others—with words that sounded to me like pure sarcasm—under the terms figuras de damas (ladies’ portraits.)
Queer Lessons on Latinx Methods
“A Nation Will Never Protect Those Whom it has Tried to Eliminate.” So declared AfroIndigenous artist Alán Peláez López in their February 2023 exhibit at Harvard’s Smith Center Arts Wing.
Calaveritas Literarias: Honoring Queer Latinx Artists
Latine/x identity extends beyond a specific month or celebration. As immigrants away from our home country or first-generation living in a new state, we find self-acceptance in spaces where we can find a sense of belonging and freedom in communicating our culture through contemporary expression.
Between the Sacred and the Profane: On Girls’ Culture in Lima
My childhood and adolescence in Peru were defined by my schooling experience in the first decade of the 2000s.
A Review of Other Americans: The Art of Latin America in the US Imaginary
Merilee Grindle’s fascinating biography of Mexican-American anthropologist Zelia Nuttall (1857-1933), In the Shadow of Quetzalcoatl: Zelia Nuttall and the Search for Mexico’s Ancient Civilizations, is a welcome sign that the field of Nutall studies is expanding.
Beyond Language Lays Monstrosity: Roque/Raquel Salas Rivera on Queer Being
“[W]hat is the difference between cuir and queer? the difference is the difference between knowing and not knowing IVÁN.” Angry and grieving in the wake of the unsolved murder of Iván Trinidad Cotto, a gay Puerto Rican student at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, renowned Puerto Rican poet Roque/Raquel Salas Rivera penned these words.
Seeking Rights from the Left: Latin American LGBTQ+ Politics
Nearly a decade ago, I attended a regional academic conference in Medellín, Colombia, to present on an eight-country study I was coordinating, which asked: do Left governments help to achieve women’s and LGBTQ+ people’s rights?
The Complexities of Art and Life: Knowing Laura Aguilar Through Her Fat Body
The seminar on Queer/Crip Wastelands, a course which examined the intersections of queerness, disability and the environment, was one of the liveliest I’ve ever taken. During our discussion of ecofeminism, my classmate Emma offered us a photograph she thought could help us think about feminist art in which humans embraces the environment.
Grindermanias: Virtual Global Gay Dating
The cacophony of Grindr, the app for gay encounters, is accompanied by the latest technological advances of tele/munitions in times of virtual war.
Beyond Identity: Redistributive Transgender Rights in Argentina
Defying the dark, heavy clouds that threatened to pour down on Buenos Aires, a crowd from more than 90 organizations was milling around at a demonstration in support of a reparations bill for Argentina’s transgender elders.
