GLAAD contributor Enrique Torre Molina is a diversity, inclusion and LGBTQ+ community activist, speaker and consultant working with companies, nonprofit organizations, government agencies and media. He co-founded Colmena 41, co-hosts the ‘Mafia Gay’ podcast and lives in Mexico City
Being lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or queer in Latin America is complex. We have one of the largest Pride Marches in the world (São Paulo) as well as some of the highest rates in homophobic and transphobic hate crimes (Brazil and Mexico). The social movements in our region have pushed and achieved many victories for our rights recently, while also putting out amazing, beautiful, smart pieces of content and cultural projects. Here are 5 of my recent favorites:
Resistencias queer
After 4 years of cofounding Abrazo Grupal in Mexico, Luis Ruiz and Andrea Natzahuatza have published a book that covers everything from the basics of sex and gender, and the fluidity in those concepts, to the meaning and value of media representation, allies and chosen families in the LGBTQ+ community. If the “for dummies” book series had a queer edition, this would be it. Only this is much better! Andrea and Luis are high school teachers based in the conservative city of León, which makes their voices even more important to pay attention to: they know what they talk about when it comes to the present and future of queer youth issues. Luis and Andrea say there are many books about coming out, and this is not one of them.
Alfonso La Cruz
How many reggaeton songs talk about sweaty dancing, lips that make you crazy, and eating someone out? Just about all of them, maybe. Except La Cruz is a young man writing and singing about other men. Originally from Venezuela and now living in Spain, as a teenager he was a choir boy and Luis Fonsi fan. Now he feels proud about being one of the first out artists making music in this genre.
Presentes
This is one of my main sources for LGBTQ+ news in Latin America, and one of the only projects of its kind in Spanish that has survived the struggles faced by LGBTQ+ media globally. It was started in 2016 by Ana Fornaro, an international journalist born in Uruguay and based in Argentina, and currently has collaborators and media partners virtually all over the region. The platform has received awards from the Buenos Aires City Legislature and Impulse, and now offers gender and journalism workshops. I recommend particularly checking out their reports on “conversion therapy”, missing LGBT people, queer land defenders and the impact of the pandemic on our community.
División Palermo
Can we laugh about anything? I think so. If you’re not sure, give this Netflix original show from Argentina a try. “A ragtag civilian patrol squad created to improve the image of the police inadvertently put their lives at risk when confronting some strange criminals.” What makes this squad unique is that none of them are qualified for the job, and most of their members represent a minority: a woman in a wheelchair, a blind man, a jew, a Bolivian immigrant, and a trans woman played by Valeria Licciardi. With every joke that makes me literally laugh out loud, I think: they’ve got to have writers or consultants from all these communities to make such on-point scripts. And they do. Trust me, it’s funnier and more clever than I can make it sound.
Ningún chile te embona
Some podcasts feel like there’s a microphone secretly recording a group of friends while having drinks at an apartment. This is one of them. Every Monday, Sam, Pablo and Darío interview an actor, a fashion designer, an activist, a standup comedian or a sex worker about their views on life, career and the LGBTQ+ community, with the right mix of intelligence, honesty, and sense of humor. Watch them on YouTube or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.