OP ED

Donde estan los escritores jotos? Where are the queer Chicano writers?

Professors Horacio Roque Ramirez and Ondine Chavoya were the only 2 queer Chicanos out of 25 scholars that presented at the “Sex Y Corazon” symposium on February 12th, 2010 at UCLA, celebrating fifteen years/quinceanera of UCLA’s Cesar E. Chavez Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies. The symposium centered on “Queer and Feminist Theory at the Vanguard of the New Chicana@ Studies.” As a third year at UCSB majoring in Chicana@ Studies, the symposium was mind blowing-to say the least. Feminist and Queer theologians, philosophers, writers, and activist discussed the history of Chicana@ Studies, their lives, their research, and what Chela Sandoval calls “the hermeneutics of love.”

Doctors Antonia Castaneda and Deena Gonzalez presented on their co-editing Chicana Matters Series by University of Texas Press. Chicana Matters Series provides an empowering outlet for Chicana writers to publish their work. As a self-proclaimed novelist, I was excited to hear of a publishing company that seeks to publish works from people of my community. Already well acquainted with horror stories from Chican@ writers whom time after time are rejected from publishing companies because of the racist pedagogy these companies are ran by. How they refuse to legitimize Chican@ work by deeming it as “not important” or “too-raced-based.” It’s fair to say that for once I was glad to know that someone was seeking my soon-to-be work, not the other way around. However, I can’t help but feel hopeless again when I squint my eyes and take a second look, “Chican(A) Matters.” Although Castaneda and Gonzalez never explicitly said that queer Chicanos are forbidden from submitting work to the series, like the series website states, it’s intended for Chicanas; thus, presumably not a primary space for queer Chicanos whom are seeking to publish their work should seek.

Following my realization, I began to ask myself, “Do Jotos Matter?” “Do queer Chicanos matter?” Instantly, I roared “¡Porsupuesto!” “Of course!” Acknowledging the works of queer Chicano writers like: Rigoberto Gonzalez, Horacio Roque Ramirez, and other established folks. The list of established queer Chicano writers, when compared to our sisters, Chicanas, doesn’t measure up. I bring this fact, not to disempower our Chicana sisters whom opened doors, but more so, to re-emphasize that when Cherrie Moraga wrote in This Bridge Called My Back “refugees of a world on fire,” it wasn’t limited to Chicana refugees. We [queer Chicanos] are refugees of a world whose flames have taken the shape of bars. Bars that kill our brown bodies as fast as the bullets that are propelled from a firearm during a drive by. As refugees of a world on fire, our writing needs to become the fire extinguisher that puts out the flames. The keys that liberates us from the prisons and the bulletproof vest that protects us from a bleeding heart.

Our publishing spaces should not be limited to hypersexualized magazines like Adelante, but should expand to scholarly university presses as well. Our bodies, our lives are worth to be published outside the realm of exoticism and into the field of academia. Queer Chicanos symbolize theory in the flesh. From combating homophobia within traditional Latino@ culture that perpetuates hypermasculinity and limited sexual discourse; to negotiating our intersectional identities as either people of color/working-class/queer/immigrant folks in a hegemonic world order- our existence matters. As refugees we need to continue and push extra hard to write our his[queer][chicano]story. Establish our own publishing series that seeks to validate our scholarly work as people living in the margins. I matter. Jotos matter. Queer Chicanos matter.