On Sept. 1, Emmanuel Garcia, Antonio Elizondo, Christopher Avalos and their team presented the last edition in 2015 of Vives Q, at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen. This event was one of the many examples of the Latino LGBTQ community in Chicago getting stronger and more visible.
The host, Elizondo, described Vives Q as "a community program for culture." He invited attendees to get tested for HIV for free by calor.org . He also invited everyone to "Platicas," an event organized by ALMA Chicago, and hosted by Robert Castillo, on Oct. 10.
The night started with a public petition from Arianna Ramirez Manzanares, who represents the group Familia Trans Queer Liberation Movement. She said that the problems the trans community faces are still deep and real, adding that the community has to deal with issues such as suicide, homelessness, homicide, sexual work, HIV, aggression, discrimination and exclusion as well as educative, professional, legal and governmental obstacles. Finally, she asked for support from the whole community to spread the word of these issues and keep fighting against them.
Garcia—who has been named to the 2015 Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame class of inductees—stated the importance of being "open to listen from one another" and of having role models, considering "how complicated and rich our community is."
During the last three years, Vives Q has included the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer/journalist Achy Obejas as well as author and professor Lourdes Torres as guests, and they have shared their personal and professional experiences with the Latino LGBTQ movement. For this third and final edition of the year, the audience had the chance to listen to Dr. Carlos T. Mock, an activist, author of six books ( including fiction, history and poetry ) and founding member of Orgullo en Accion.
Mock described his experiences in the religious Puerto Rico as a closeted gay man; his personal, academic and professional transformation in the United States; his fight against HIV through the buyers club in New York; and his work raising funds to eliminate discrimination. He passionately argued that even though the LGBT community has won battles regarding equal marriage, everybody still has to fight for professional legal equality ( since in 29 states it is still not illegal to be fired because of someone's sexual orientation or gender identity ). He also said it is vital for everyone to come out of the closet, so that the straight community is able to put a face for the LGBTQs and consider them an everyday aspect of their own lives.
After Mock's presentation, the audience enjoyed the performance of several guests. DJ Myq Moon soothed the atmosphere, queer musicians Brian Martin and Elijah Fallas played romantic and sad melodies, and the spoken-word performers Jezabel A Gogo and Jade ( Jessica Paul ) expressed thoughts regarding labor and personal feelings, respectively.
Vives Q plans to organize similar events in 2016. Visit "Vives Q" on Facebook and Twitter.
