by Zefferin LLamas
Note: “Hispanic” literally means Spanish and is a term that was invented by the US government for the purposes of census data surveys to classify the US population based on race. It should be noted that Hispanic people are most often of mixed Indigenous, Black, and European ancestry, what in Latin America is recognized through the use of the terms mestizo and afro-mestizo. What we know today as Latin America is culturally, ethnically, and linguistically a lot more diverse than the term “Hispanic” suggests. For the purposes of this blog post, however, we will use the term Hispanic.
Hispanic Heritage Month is a federally recognized period in which to recognize and celebrate the achievements, culture, and heritage of Hispanic people. It began as a week-long celebration thanks to the efforts of Latin American communities in Los Angeles in the 1960s. By the 1980s, it had become a federally recognized, month-long celebration beginning on September 15 and ending on October 15.
For over 300 years, much of what is now known as Central America and México was governed by the Spanish Empire and was known as New Spain (Nueva España). On September 16 of 1810, México declared its independence from the Spanish Empire, and a nation was born. Today, the night of September 15 is celebrated as the night of El Grito de Dolores (known simply as El Grito), a symbolic and literal affirmation of independence from colonial rule, first declared by Miguel Hidalgo, a Mexican founding father, so to speak. In México, September is known as el mes patria, lit. “the month of the homeland.”
11 years after Mexican independence, most of the countries that now comprise Central America, including Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador, would declare their own independence on September 15 (1821). Two more Latin American nations, Chile and Belize, also declared independence from the Spanish Empire in the month of September.
October is a significant month in Latin America for many reasons, including October 12, which is known as El Día de la Raza (in the US, this day is known as Indigenous People’s Day, formerly Colombus Day). This is a celebration that recognizes the mix of ethnicities, languages, and cultures (Indigenous, European, Black, among others) that form Latin American identity.
To delve deeper into the rich, unique, and complex landscape that is Latin American culture through a queer lens, below are a few book and movie recommendations:
Books
Disidentifications: Queers of Color And The Performance Of Politics by José Esteban Muñoz (University of Minnesota Press) This book looks at how those outside the racial and sexual mainstream negotiate majority culture and construct identity.
Unforgetting: A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and Revolution in the Americas by Roberto Lovato (Harper)“An urgent, no-holds-barred tale of gang life, guerrilla warfare, intergenerational trauma, and interconnected violence between the United States and El Salvador.”
Spanish titles
El vampiro de la colonia Roma (English title: Adonis Garcia: A Picaresque Novel) A fictional account of the life of Adonis, a male sex worker in 1970s Mexico City.
México se escribe con J by Miguel Capistrán & Michael K Schluesser (Penguin) This book is about the construction of gay identity in México.
Movies about Latin American and LGBTQ+ identities
Callejón de los milagros (Midaq Alley) (1995, México): An intimate portrait of the lives of several families in a neighborhood in México City that examines issues of homophobia, classism, and immigration. The film was also Salma Hayek’s breakout role. Watch trailer
Contracorriente (Undertow) (2009, Peru): A married fisherman struggles to reconcile his devotion to his male lover in a Peruvian village. Watch trailer
El baile de los 41 (The Dance of the 41) (2020, México): A historical drama about a clandestine, queer society of men meeting during México’s pre-revolutionary period. Watch trailer
Sueño en otro idioma (I dream in another language) (2017, México): A film about a researcher who must bring two men together who haven’t spoken in 50 years in order to study a native language that is at risk of extinction. Watch Trailer