During the 2016 presidential election, one candidate launched his campaign by attacking Mexican immigrants, calling them murderers and rapists. He also questioned the impartiality of a judge of Mexican descent. That candidate won the election and has since set a tone. Today, we are witnessing yet another act of malice towards Hispanic people, the American citizens of Puerto Rico, as our government fails to adequately come to their aid in the face of a natural disaster.
We’re now in the middle of Hispanic Heritage Month. It runs until Oct. 15. With Hispanics making up nearly 20% of urban Milwaukee’s population, they also represent a considerable part of our LGBTQ community. Yet, I am unaware of any official celebration of the month-long event by organizations that one might expect would recognize the value of this particular segment within our cultural diversity. To be fair, UW-Milwaukee’s LGBT Resource Center is co-sponsoring a workshop entitled “Latinx: Complicating Identities / Beyond the Gender Binary” as part of the university’s celebration. It takes place on Thursday, Oct. 12, in the Union’s Inclusive Excellence Center (Union 119). And, by coincidence, the Milwaukee Film Festival features a Puerto Rican-Venezuelan-produced lesbian-themed film, Extra Terrestres. But, aside from those two programs, there’s nothing. It’s not for a lack of people or groups who could participate as speakers, performers or audience. In fact, Milwaukee has a rich LGBTQ Hispanic presence.
Of the nearly 90 units in the Milwaukee Pride Parade, Latinx groups accounted for at least 10% of them, and, with their extravagant floats and costumes, they were certainly the most colorful, energetic and enthusiastic. One of the very few Wisconsin political office holders who identify as LGBTQ is our State Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa. In the arts, there’s award-winning author, poet and activist Carmen Murguía. The Milwaukee Art Museum has several works on view by Cuban-American gay visual artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres. There are also numerous restaurateurs, doctors, lawyers and bankers, among other professionals, many of whom have served on the boards of directors of Milwaukee’s LGBTQ organizations. And of course, we have our Hispanic complement of dancers, athletes and drag queens.
However, recently, at the Fifth Anniversary Celebration of the Wisconsin LGBT Chamber of Commerce, I asked its executive director, Jason Rae, how many of the Chamber’s 500 members were Hispanic. He could only name two. Certainly there must be others. But, in a conversation I had with a gay Latino representative of a non-LGBT Chamber corporation, he referred to the negative and “archaic” way his community thinks about its LGBTQs, as an explanation for the absence.
But, even within our community, we are not entirely committed to changing that. In September 2015, when a prominent gay Cuban doctor made a historic visit to the LGBT Community Center and gave a presentation on the state of LGBTQ health in Cuba, some major organizations awkwardly shied away from co-sponsoring the event. They missed an opportunity to develop a more inclusive message.
In the face of the pervading politics of racial division, cultivating cultural inclusion should be a priority of the LGBTQ community. We say our acceptance has come in great part by others getting to know us. We should practice the same.
