Current Issue
Queer in Latin America
LGBTQ+ Perspectives
Fall 2023 | Volume XXIII, Number 1
Cover image by Jay Lynn Gomez, courtesy of the artist
Table of Contents
Editor’s Letter →
by June Carolyn Erlick
Political Rights
Fibers of the Past: Museums and Textiles
Every place has a unique landscape.
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.
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.
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?
Navigating the Borders of Belonging
Despite pledging to end Title 42, the Trump-era law barring migrants from seeking asylum in the United States, the Biden administration recently enacted its own asylum ban through the “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways” rule.
The Right to Protest: Queer Lives and Identities in Panama
Panama, where I live and direct an organization for gay rights, stands out in the Americas for its lack of respect for queer people.
Gay Places, Gay Spaces
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.
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.
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.
The City of Flowers: Queer Memorabilia and Urban Legacy in Masaya, Nicaragua
I grew up silently queer, in a city loudly proud of its flamboyant cultural festivities. Masaya, the small, combative town an hour from Managua, Nicaragua, has long been known as “The City of Flowers,” although no one knows exactly why.
Being Trans in Latin American and the Caribbean
“Travestis in Command of the Nation”
Black travesti activists and artists in Brazil constantly play with notions of time as they build utopian horizons.
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.)
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.
Todas las flores: The Eternal Blooming of Colombia’s Trans Spring
The long line could be seen even before arriving at the movie theatre. Dozens of impatient people crowded at the box office to see if tickets were still available. The mood was festive.
Gender, Class and Power in Chile’s Anti-Trans Movement: Protect which children?
I had once again made the mistake of being on time.
Sexual (Dis)Identities: Beyond Heteronormativity in Brazil
There was a time in Brazil, long ago, when the division between “heterosexuals” and “homosexuals” seemed sufficient to describe sexual orientation.
The Silenced Crimes: Hate speech and Crimes against LGBTQ+ People in the Peruvian Amazon, by Elizabeth Salazar Vega & Photos by Marco Garro
In mid-2021, Peru was winding up an intense presidential run-off race between right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori and leftist Pedro Castillo.
Thinking on Queerness
Decolonizing Global Citizenship: Peripheral Perspectives
I write these words as someone who teaches, researches and resists in the global periphery.
Cuir Mourning & Mobilization in Times of Displacement
On May 10, 2018, Bruno Alonso Avendaño Martínez disappeared in Oaxaca, Mexico, without any explanation.
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.
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.
The Ongoing Body: Transing The Cancellation of Latinidad
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.
“Double life” as Method: Queerness, Race and Nationality
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.
My Queerness is an Asymptote
I was born and raised in north-central Florida—no, not Orlando—spending summers visiting family in Puerto Rico.
Art and Culture
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.
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.
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.
Making Queerness Ordinary: Santa Muerte and Queer Religious Leadership
I first learned about Santa Muerte one tranquil Sunday evening in Mexico City. Like most Sunday evenings, I was sitting around the kitchen table with my host, taking a break from my work at an education non-profit through the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies’ summer internship program.
The Legacy of Sylvia Molloy
The Argentine writer Sylvia Molloy (1938-2022) tells us: “I feel comfortable with the very fluidity of the term queer, whether written with q or c.
The Erotics of Play: An Asexual Reading of the Poetic Work of José María Eguren
José María Eguren seems to have had no interest in sexual activity. A renowned professor of contemporary poetry told us when he introduced this prominent Peruvian poet of the twentieth century.
Complicated Small Island Love Poems
From the moment I learned the international Caribbean Studies Association’s 2023 meeting would be held in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, I understood it was an invitation to celebrate the life, love and legacy of Gloria I. Joseph and Audre Lorde.
A poem by Jay Lynn
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.
Book Reviews
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.
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.
A Review of La revolución malograda
The figure and legacy of Rafael Correa still form the axis around which Ecuadorian politics pivot, despite the fact he relinquished power in 2017.
A Review of Legacies of War: Violence, Ecologies and Kin
In 1962, Colombian artist Alejandro Obregón unveiled La Violencia, one of his most iconic oil paintings. Imposing in its dimensions, the 61×73 inch canvas appears, initially, to be just a mountainous landscape rendered in nebulous whites and various shades of black.
A Review of Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point
With this important new volume, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt are following up on their outstanding bestseller, How Democracies Die (2018).
A Review of Of Light and Struggle: Social Justice, Human Rights, and Accountability in Uruguay
Size matters. Somewhat paradoxically, Uruguay’s small size—a country of three million—and relative political unimportance made it a key player in international conversations about human rights in the late 1970s.
A Review of The Political Body: Stories on Art, Feminism, and Emancipation in Latin America by Andrea Giunta
Back in 2013 when I started the research for Dissident Practices: Brazilian Women Artists 1960s-2020s (Duke University Press, 2023), I encountered a strong resistance to the term “feminism” among women artists from the 1960s and 1970s.
A Review of Evading the Patronage Trap: Interest Representation in Mexico
I was asked to write a “personal review,” so here it is. This fabulous book by Brian Palmer-Rubin made me jealous.
A Review of Panama in Black: Afro-Caribbean World Making in the Twentieth Century
Kaysha Corinealdi’s new book awakened old memories for me, dating to when I first arrived in Panama in 1964.
A Review of For God and Liberty: Catholicism and Revolution in the Atlantic World, 1790-1861
Pamela Voekel’s For God and Liberty is a tour de force. Her research spans religious and secular archives throughout the vast Catholic world of the Age of Revolution and its aftermath.
A Review of Yerba Mate: The Drink that Shaped a Nation
On any given day, millions of South Americans—in the subcontinent and around the world—would engage in the same ritual. We heat water (making sure it doesn’t boil), prepare the mate, and sip, sip and sip. But where does that green, earthy, addictive, and for many outside South America exotic, drink comes from?