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Panel: What issues do the LGBT & Latino communities have in common?

Panel: What issues do the LGBT & Latino communities have in common?

Dave Montez, Jeff Trujillo, and Lucia Guzman weigh in on this week’s question.


Dave  Montez
Dave Montez

Dave Montez I think the question implies some sort of separateness between the two communities. In reality, Latinos are part of the LGBT community and LGBT people are part of the Latino community. LGBT people exist in most demographics, and we care about issues that impact our lives not just as LGBT people — but also as women, Latinos, students, voters, liberals, conservatives, and parents. I think that marriage equality, for example, is a Latino issue. In many ways, Latino families are at the center of the discussion about why marriage matters. According to a report co-authored by the Movement Advancement Project, Family Equality Council, and Center for American Progress, Latino gay and lesbian couples are more likely to be raising children than white gay and lesbian couples. It’s really hard to take care of your family when the state you live in doesn’t recognize you as a family. I also believe that immigration reform, as another example, is an LGBT issue. There are nearly 300,000 undocumented immigrants in the United States who are also LGBT. Many of these individuals have fled countries where they face dangerous conditions because they are LGBT. They need a path to citizenship just like the rest of the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are here in the United States. Dave Montez is the executive director of statewide LGBT advocacy organization One Colorado.


Jeff Trujillo
Jeff Trujillo

Jeff Trujillo I personally don’t identify as Latino. My last name would suggest that I am, but my ethnic makeup is a mix of Mexican, Native American, Irish and German, so it doesn’t seem appropriate for me to identify as Latino any more than it would be for me to identify as Caucasian or Apache. I’m all of those. I’m also male, gay, agnostic, single and middle class, so what would make any struggle I personally face any different for just the GLBT or Latino parts of me and not the others? As minority communities there are some issues both GLBT and Latino populations have in common including negative stereotypes, misinterpretation of culture, prejudice and maybe moral conduct that is either shaped by or in conflict with religious upbringings. But at the same time, everyone and every minority community has issues that they’re dealing with that are probably identical to those that these two sub cultures face. Is the racial profiling of Mexican people as illegal immigrants any different from the profiling of Middle Eastern people as terrorists? Is the fight for marriage equality for GLBT people any different form the fight for interracial marriage that our country has already endured? Is the PrideFest parade that draws a number of protestors each year any different from the Columbus Day marches that so many people object to? We, as humans, have a tendency to want to be part of the group, so I think we look for commonalities among other people, and often that comes down to gay and straight, skin color, cultural upbringing and religion. With these groups we’ll find solace in going through struggles together, yet at other times we’ll find that comfort in completely different people. I think that’s the beauty of being American – we can be multi-ethnic, heterosexual or homosexual, work hard for our money and go to church wherever we want, and we’ll always find someone that understands exactly what we’re going through. I feel that the more we try to put ourselves into specific sub categories, the more we allow others to divide us. Everyone faces issues, whether they’re GLBT, Latino, or some other sub category. We’re all just people – hurting the same, laughing the same, loving the same. We all just want acceptance, and that, I think, is what every subculture has in common. Jeff Trujillo is the Manager of Marketing and Events at the statewide Colorado AIDS Project.


Sen. Lucia Guzman
Sen. Lucia Guzman

Lucia Guzman LGBT people and Latinos share many of the same issues and concerns about human rights, social justice, public education and higher education, affordable health care and jobs and the economy. Latinos have inherited a long-term history of oppression, bigotry and discrimination. The struggle for Justice and equality is the same with the LGBT community. Because I am a member of the LGBT and the Latino community I have been blessed with the understanding that we are all one people. Latinos experience racism; LGBT people experience racism, homophobia, and more. There should never be a time where Latinos and the LGBT community fight one another. We have all experienced oppression and we must overcome the terrible scars of oppression. If we do not, then we could find ourselves oppressing each other. We are all one because of our similar goals of erasing bigotry and oppression. Lucia Guzman is a Colorado state senator and president pro-tempore of the Colorado state senate, representing district 34 in Northwest Denver.

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