Carol Schmidt
Sep 21, 2004, 6:10 PM
Post #11 of 18
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Re: [Kip] Not to be disrespectful, Carol,
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There are still gays being killed in Mexico because of their sexuality, just as still happens in the States, though it is much worse in most of the world. There is plenty of very-closeted gay life here, my gaydar tells me that, and my gringo friends who do have gay and lesbian Mexican friends tell me that.
Mexican lesbians do not feel all that safe, far as I can tell, and a seminal book around 1985, "This Bridge Called My Back," about lesbians of color and edited by two Mexican-American Latinas, was full of information about how they came out of a culture which was highly homophobic.
The gay acceptance many of us open U.S. gays and lesbians feel is in some ways real, some ways an illusion, the polite front gringos often get when we are doing something outrageous in Mexican eyes.
I personally have not had a single nasty look, much less any comments, from any Mexicans here, just the usual trash from a few uptight Americans who bring their bigotry with them. But I know of at least one gay gringo who moved to Mexico and then left partly because he felt the antagonism when two guys walked down the street with their arms around each other or holding hands. But he'd get that in most of the States as well. I know other gay gringos and Mexicans who live in San Miguel and who are very open, even outrageously so, and love it here.
But in any event, there is a very real difference in how a Mexican lesbian would view her culture and her upbringing than how the "majority" would view it. I simply asked if anyone knew of any books written by a Mexican lesbian. I sure don't think the shortage is because Mexican lesbians are fully integrated and accepted!
Few straight people knew anything about how lesbians and gays were discriminated against in the U.S. before Stonewall in 1969 brought about our equality movement and our publishing explosion to go with it, telling our stories that we had never dared tell before. Before we were "The love that dare not speak its name." Now we've been called, "The love that will not shut up." I don't think Mexico has reached that point yet. Mexico is certainly not the role model for the world on gay and lesbian acceptance so that no such book needs to be written! More likely the problem would be finding a publisher!
Or it may be more because no one here knows of any such books, not a big deal. I'll look elsewhere, just thought I'd ask, as the college instructor who sent out the word asking for any such books genuinely wants to get original sources, not just what somebody thinks somebody else might think and experience. Thanks for the link to sergay.
Carol Schmidt
(This post was edited by Carol Schmidt on Sep 21, 2004, 6:18 PM)
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