Event celebrates Chicano LGBT artists
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 12, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 JENNIFER YUEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Gregory
Ramos speaks at La Familia’s art symposium, featuring
artists from the Chicano LGBT community, Saturday.
By Michaele Turnage
Daily Bruin Contributor
About 300 people gathered in Ackerman Grand Ballroom on Saturday
to address challenges and to celebrate the art of the lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender Chicano community.
Participants shared in roundtable discussions, which featured 15
prominent Chicano leaders, including author Cherrie Moraga, who
read excerpts of their work and shared their experiences as LGBT
members of their community.
“This is an important affirmation of who we are,”
said speaker Emma Perez, associate professor of history at the
University of Texas at El Paso and writer of Chicana lesbian
literature.
“I would have loved something like this in 1976,”
she said in her introductory speech.
La Familia, a Latino LGBT organization, and the LGBT studies
program hosted the event, called “Otro Corazón: Queering
the Art of Aztlán, a Symposium of Queer Chicano Artists,
Writers, Performers and Critics.”
Otro Corazón, which means “other heart” in
Spanish, is the latest in a series of annual Corazón events
that began in 1995. The Corazón events were originally
envisioned by UCLA Professor Alicia Gaspar de Alba.
“(The Symposium) is a way of exposing the heart of our
artists, writers and critics and also a way to give back to the
community,” said Gaspar de Alba, interim director of LGBT
studies.
The event, according to Gaspar de Alba, is especially exciting
because it is the first time these 15 leaders have come
together.
“They are some of our top name cultural producers and
scholars,” she said. “They are our stars.”
Xochitl Marquez, a fifth-year Chicano studies and Women’s
studies student who coordinated the event with UCLA alumna Claudia
Rodriguez, said such events are important for spreading
awareness.
“Queer Latino artists’ works are recognized in the
mainstream, but their queer identity is subsumed,” said
Marquez, who is also co-chair of La Familia.
She said homophobia still exists on campus, citing hate crimes
during the last academic year.
“UCLA has not been a queer-friendly space like it needs to
be,” Marquez said.
In fall 1999, someone stole several art pieces that belonged to
an art gallery put on by La Familia. Last spring, UCLA experienced
a series of assaults and vandalism motivated by biases against race
and/or sexual orientation.
Panelists and participants acknowledged the need for academic
theories that can articulate the unique experience of the Chicano
LGBT person and effectively explain the intersection of race and
sexual orientation.
“(Events like this) bring up the subject of queer identity
outside of a white dominance structure,” said Marpha
Gonzales, 27, a Los Angeles resident who attended the event.
The experiences between a white and Chicano LGBT person are
different because each group deals with its own political, cultural
and social issues, Gonzales said.
Lorena Salazar, who works with “Expresso Mi
Cultura,” a bookstore in Hollywood, said Saturday’s
symposium was an empowering experience.
“I don’t think you’d find this atmosphere at
another event,” she said.
Homero Del Pino, moderator of the roundtable discussions,
emphasized the need to affirm one’s identity as a member of
the LGBT community.
“Love of self has been nurtured here at this
conference,” he said.
La Familia is planning a Queer Latino Youth Conference for next
year.
