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Seeking Stories of Queer California: A Hidden Histories Online Exhibit

Latino/a/x LGBTQ+ people

Latino/a/x LGBTQ+ people represent a multiplicity of ethnicities and cultures from across Central and South America within the larger LGBTQ+ spectrum. Like other LGBTQ+ people of color, they face distinct challenges that stem from the intersection of their sexual orientation or gender identity with their racial or ethnic identity, including cultural stigma, family expectations, and language barriers, which can impact their sense of acceptance and belonging. Through activism, art, and community organizing, Latino LGBTQ+ people create inclusive spaces that honor their identities and experiences and address issues affecting both the LGBTQ+ and Latino communities.

Collection Information

For more information on the materials in this gallery, see their holding institutions.

California Historical Society
The Gay Latino Alliance, Market Street

Center for the Study of Political Graphics
3a Marcha Lésbica
Every 10th Jesus is a Queer
Pete Jimenez Memorial

The Huntington Library
Laura Aguilar, from the series Plush Pony

LAPL Photograph Collections
Gay and Lesbian Latinos Unidos office

The Outwords Archive
Miguel Criado Oral History

Self Help Graphics and Art
Butch/Top
I Lied
Intertwined
LXS Guia
Queerios
Remembrance for Teddy & Arnie
Y Que

Workman & Temple Family Homestead Museum
Ramon Novarro

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Artist: Alex Donis. I Lied is the culmination of an unfinished work that began in the mid-1990s after completing a single lithography poster of the same image. The edition depicts the Virgin Mary in her iconic contemplative stare and delicate hand gestures but with the words, I Lied subtly placed before the sacred heart. Through these simple words, the artist forces the viewer to see Mary beyond her divinity, but her humanness. A human with faults who perhaps may have lied to protect her loved ones, or to hide a secret or a painful truth. However, the criticism here heavily lies on the religious institutions who through the prevalent imagery, authority, and doctrine, have exploited and harmed many with minimal accountability. Part of the exhibit "At the Heart of It: LGBT Representation at Self Help Graphics", curated by Ruben Esparza.
Text continues: "September 14, 1984, 8pm, Friendship Auditorium, 3201 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles." Red text and images on gold background. Image depicts eleven people wearing various headdresses and standing on top of a structure resembling a pyramid with the names of North American, South American and Caribbean countries listed.Poster is numbered and signed in pencil on the lower right corner.
Artist: Luciano Martinez. As real and imagined borders separate same-sex partners, the artist considers a new obstacle Gay Latino men face: gay marriage. Intertwined addresses the forbidden love between two men, sometimes complicated by geographic and cultural differences, trapped by an invisible cell that confines yet separates them. The prison-like bars that separate the lovers in the artwork are not only geographic, racial, and cultural but ominously political, highlighting the cross-national restrictions on gay marriage and the difficulties of recognizing same-sex partners within conservative societies. Part of the exhibit "At the Heart of It: LGBT Representation at Self Help Graphics", curated by Ruben Esparza.
Artrist: Miguel Angel Reyes. Influenced by oddly-toned color ads from 1970's fashion magazines, play with the labels men use to describe themselves for "sex hook-ups" internet personal advertisements. Though proudly gay, the butch-top asserts his sexually dominant role as a man, dispelling the commonly-held notion that homosexual men are feminine and passive. His attitude challenges any question of machismo. Part of the exhibit "At the Heart of It: LGBT Representation at Self Help Graphics", curated by Ruben Esparza.
Artist: Ruben Esparza. A deliberate flat artwork with limited colors boldly represents a shirtless, masculine, queer Chicano in a powerful stance. Y Que (translates to So What). The tattoo utilizes a decorative type treatment used in gang culture; the pearl necklace is a gay code representing a particular body fluid. Part of the exhibit "At the Heart of It: LGBT Representation at Self Help Graphics", curated by Ruben Esparza.
Artist: Joey Terrill. The image is taken from a 1989 painting created by Terrill titled Remembrance, exhibited at the Santa Monica Museum of Art for an art auction to raise funds for agencies working on the AIDs pandemic in the Latino Community. The serigraph Remembrance (For Teddy and Arnie), printed in 2008, honors the artist's friends, Arnie Araica (who designed the shirt the central figure is wearing) and the artist Teddy Sandoval, who died of Aids. The central figure is a self-portrait standing alongside his past partner, Robert Ward, during a dark period when friends had or were dying of AIDs. The two figures, the younger figure following the steps of his older partner, are in a garden surrounded by plants, white gladiolas, and birds of paradise. The garden, a reflection of life and beauty, can be likened to Terrill's friendships and their loss. The artist reflected on being alive 19 years after creating his original painting, having lived with HIV. Celebrating another 15 years since the creation of this print, the artist continues to champion health rights for the LBGTQ+ community. Part of the exhibit "At the Heart of It: LGBT Representation at Self Help Graphics", curated by Ruben Esparza.
Artist: Cynthia Velasquez. Cynthia Velasquez was born to a Chilean mother and a Guatemalan father, but her household was never strictly one culture. Like the city of Los Angeles, her household was diverse, influencing how she views herself and creates art. Her journey to find herself as an artist and a descendant of displaced people began at home, as did her understanding and introspection of her roots and ancestors in Chile and Guatemala. Her work references her search for lost parts of her identity, exploring that loss to understand her grounding as an artist and a queer womxn. Lxs Guía is a portrait of a womxn’s moment connecting with the spirit of the elder and the spirit animals, honoring the direction of the buffalo, the elder, and her ancestors. Part of the exhibit "At the Heart of It: LGBT Representation at Self Help Graphics", curated by Ruben Esparza.