Category: AA Thinking on Queerness

On May 10, 2018, Bruno Alonso Avendaño Martínez disappeared in Oaxaca, Mexico, without any explanation.

“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.

“[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.

Back in February 2023, I attended a scintillating workshop with AfroIndigenous artist and scholar Alán Peláez López for their featured exhibit “N[eg]ation.” Their work centers imaginaries: futures not yet tangible, concentrating on the bonds and togetherness of trans+ people and using art to stir intersectional emotions.

I’ve often thought I have different versions of myself. I’m not the only one. I’ve found people may act differently in certain situations or among certain people; perhaps one is quiet and reserved around strangers, talkative and humorous around friends, and serious at the workplace.

I was born and raised in north-central Florida—no, not Orlando—spending summers visiting family in Puerto Rico.