As 2015 comes to a close we welcome the opportunity to look at some of our favorite moments in Spanish language television and newspapers in terms of LGBT representation. Seeing our lives reflected in media and in ways that are diverse and interesting—as opposed to stereotypical and shallow—can make a big difference in helping our Latino culture learn more about the LGBT community. Hope you enjoy these stories and TV segments.
Speaking for ourselves: Four Latinas told their own stories about the importance of family acceptance and their stories were shared during Spirit Day.
International Impact: When Marcos Saldívar wrote in the Huffington Post about the way his grade school teacher, Lisa Wood Maloney, offered him support, as a bullied gay kid, the story inspired more than a few people. CNN reporter Karina Dalmás profiled Saldivar, and the segment, along with a great discussion about the power of standing up to bullying, ran on Realidades en Contexto. "Orientación sexual y acoso escolar" Realidades en Contexto (CNN en Español) a show that is seen not just here in the US but throughout the Caribbean, Central and South America.
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The Dr. Has Spoken/He dicho! Doctora Ana Maria Polo, from Caso Cerrado on Telemundo, consistently throughout the years addresses LGBT issues-here is just one example from this year. The show is hugely popular shown both during the day and in the evening and Dr. Polo has spoken up in social media against discrimination towards LGBT people. In this episode, the owner of a christian private school wants to fire the dance instructor because he posted in his Facebook that he was getting married to another man. Dr. Polo explains
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Giving 'Voice' y 'Voces' When Trevor Harper decided to ask Davis Covin to marry him in his Methodist Church in Austin TX, the reverend of the congregation John Wright helped him plan the moment and the members of the church applauded and celebrated with them. This story and video from Huffington Post Latino Voices is heartwarming, especially when you see how big and diverse the congregation is.
http://voces.huffingtonpost.com/2015/08/28/iglesia-festeja-propuesta-de-...
In print: Yurina Melara Valiulis interviewed Rosa Manriquez about her life and her work with Equally Blessed during the Papal visit. Rosa Manriquez has two lesbian daughters and believes that every person is made in God's image; therefore, her daughters are perfect. She advocates for LGBT rights in the Catholic church and used rainbow rosaries to symbolize her cause when she went with others to be present for the Pope's visit to Philadelphia this year.
http://www.laopinion.com/2015/08/25/iglesia-catolica-de-philadelphia-no-...
La Opinion, one of the country's biggest Spanish-language newspapers, educated their readers about the plight of transgender women in immigration detention. For example in this article, they wrote about Nicoll Hernandez, a transgender woman who was finally released from a detention center after an intense campaign by activists for her release. Nicoll Hernandez left her country because of the discrimination and harassment she suffered as a transgender woman, only to face the same treatment by ICE officials and inmates when she asked for asylum in a detention center in Arizona.
http://www.laopinion.com/2015/04/30/joven-transgenero-logra-asilo-en-eeuu/
Virginia Gaglianone shared an excellent Father's Day story about two transgender men, one of them Latino, in her article "Transgender Parents – The only requisite to be a parent is love to your children." The two dads shared insights from their experiences as transgender fathers, the support from their families, their spouses, and the lessons that their children have taught them.
http://www.laopinion.com/2015/06/19/los-retos-de-los-padres-transgenero/
The press paid a lot of attention to Los Tigres del Norte and their song "Era Diferente." In this article by Sigal-Ratner-Arias Written she talks about the song written by Mexican composer Manuel Eduardo Toscano and the reason the band decided to include it in their album. The song is about a girl coveted by men who is in love with her best girl-friend. "They made their bets to win her over, but no boy won her love, she was so different from the others, she was never interested in no man's love," says the song.
https://www.yahoo.com/music/s/tigres-del-norte-support-lgbt-community-hi...
In this short segment of Suelta La Sopa, the singer Chiquis Rivera, daughter of the late icon Jenny Rivera, talks about being named Long Beach Pride Grand Marshall and shares her support for the LGBT community-something she learned from her mother.
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Finally, every year Spirit Day is bigger spreading the message that we need to stand up to bullying and support LGBT youth. The best segments that come out of Spirit Day are the ones that feature stories of people who overcame being bullied for bieng lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender and that put their experiences in the context of how many people are impacted by this every year. This story from Univision for example did all of this and included Karen Anzoategui from the Hulu show East Los High and Juan Castillo Alvarado from the non-profit organization Latino Equality Alliance.
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These moments are just some of the highlights we noticed in Spanish-language media in 2015, we hope to share more with you in the coming months. We hope that next year there will be more inclussion and accurate representation of LGBT people.
