Latinx Files: The Pride Month mixtape edition

Hi, folks, it’s Fidel. I’m out and I’ve asked columnist Suzy Exposito to take over the newsletter this week. I’ll be back next Thursday with some exciting news that will also explain my recent absence from the Latinx Files. Suzy, take it away!

A question for our LGBTQ+ readers in the States: Does this Pride Month feel a little hard to rally around?

If you’re feeling deflated by the onset of this year’s Pride, it’s not just you — it’s the whole damn country. In this year alone, the Movement Advancement Project has recorded at least 650 anti-LGBTQ+ laws that have been introduced into local, state and national legislatures, including more than 530 laws seeking to severely limit the expression of and healthcare for gender-nonconforming individuals across 46 states.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, at least 70 of these laws have been fully passed so far. Bans on drag performances have already been enforced in Tennessee, Montana and Texas. Meanwhile, in Florida, strategically ambiguous restrictions on books in schools and biologically essentialist guidelines for those seeking to use public restrooms have been championed by part-time Florida governor and full-time GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis. In the last month, restrictions on medical treatment for transgender minors have been extended to transgender adults, who are reporting unfilled prescriptions and canceled doctor’s appointments.

Although California Gov. Gavin Newsom has touted the Golden State as a safe haven for LGBTQ+ people, the lawmakers backing these bans will not be satisfied until such discriminatory policies are applied across the country and, eventually, enforced against a number of people within the LGBTQ+ community and beyond.

The annual celebration of Pride as we know it dates back to 1969, when a group of New Yorkers banded together in what’s now known as the Stonewall Rebellion. What started with a police raid of the Stonewall Inn — a beloved gay nightclub, which had been illegal to operate at the time — resulted in multiple nights of protests. From those actions sprang forth groups such as the Gay Liberation Front and STAR (a.k.a. Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), which laid the groundwork for the modern movement for LGBTQ+ equality and justice in the United States.

The trans foremothers of this movement, Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson and Puerto Rican-Venezuelan icon Sylvia Rivera, did not put their lives on the line for their LGBTQ+ progenies to remain complacent, nor for history to repeat itself in 2023. And yet, our forebears did not dream of our communities to be mired in struggle and toil for generations.

I will always believe that diversity is a testament to the beauty and the richness of the human experience. Yet in a world inhabited by people who seek to snuff out what makes us different, so goes the unattributed adage, “queer joy is an act of resistance.” In the spirit of resistance, it is imperative that we fight not just for our right to survive but for our inalienable right to be a little silly, sexy and weird together in peace.

In this week’s edition of “L.A. Goes Out,” writer Steven Vargas has generously listed a number of happenings to get your Pride Month started right; as for me, your bisexual tía, I’ll list a number of songs by LGBTQ+ artists to get your blood pumping and your hearts singing in time for the festivities. Let’s keep our collective chin up, community!

Kali Uchis, “No Hay Ley”
Kali Uchis champions the pleasure principle in “No Hay Ley,” a glossy work of ’90s Latin house revival. “‘En el amor no hay ley’ means ‘there are no laws to love,’” wrote Uchis of the track in 2022. “Be with who makes you happy, and don’t listen to what anyone else has to say about it, because it wasn’t their business in the first place!”

Alex Anwandter, “Maricoteca”
In his new album, cheekily titled “El Diablo en el Cuerpo,” the Chilean indie pop king suffuses his hot-and-heavy disco tracks with treatises on queer identity and desire.

Bruses, “Señorita Revolución”
A Mexican soul child of Joan Jett and Kathleen Hanna, the Tijuana pop star calls for a revolution, grrrl style now.

Ana Macho, “Exclusive”
What’s Pride Month without a little decadence — and a touch of, as Puerto Rican club queen Ana Macho puts it, “oontz oontz cuír?”

Villano Antillano feat. Ana Macho, “Muñeca”
When the Boricua rapper La Villana sings “soy la muñeca” in her signature, tough-as-stiletto-nails purr … she’s not talking about the kind of doll you play with.

Pabllo Vittar and Anitta, “Balinha de Coração”
Unless you possess the physical caliber of Brazilian superstars Pabllo and Anitta, I suggest you practice these dance moves at home, well before you’re zooted on the dance floor at the next Rhonda party.

Tokischa feat. Marshmello, “Estilazo”
The product of an unusual pairing between the Dominican Republic’s leading provocateur and America’s most mysterious EDM kingpin, “Estilazo” is a hard diva-house bop that may never go out of style.

Young Miko feat. Cazzu, ”Brinca”
Latin trap queens Young Miko and Cazzu get feisty in their funk-infused single, “Brinca,” or “Bounce.” However NSFW, the video is a celebration of women, as both autonomous sexual beings and exquisite works of fine art.

Liniker, “Calmô/Tua/Remonta (Live)”
In celebration of the Brazilian soul queen, who became the first transgender artist to win a Latin Grammy in 2022, I’m just going to drop her entire NPR Tiny Desk performance.

Conexión Divina, “Odio”
This rising sierreño trio — who I, being the tía I am, fondly think of as the Gen-Z answer to the Indigo Girls — made a splash at this year’s Coachella with “Odio,” a swooning guitar song for the sapphic at heart.

Rubio, “Tu Olor”
Opening for Carly Rae Jepsen at this weekend’s OutLoud music festival — a staple of West Hollywood’s annual Pride celebration — Chilean dance pop artist Rubio will bring their bass and big-time sensuality to the stage on Sunday afternoon.

La Bruja de Texcoco, “Tiempera de Granizo”
Transfeminine singer-songwriter La Bruja de Texcoco emanates romance, whimsy and mysticism in her folkloric ballads, playing with gender as skillfully as she does the harp, violin and guitar.

Omar Apollo, “Evergreen (You Didn’t Deserve Me at All)”
At last year’s Coachella, the Chicano soul singer generated buzz with billboards pledging that “heterosexuality can be cured” by watching his set. Since then, his bilingual reflections on queer love and limerence have wrenched hearts across the Kinsey scale — including the devastating slow-burn of “Evergreen (You Didn’t Deserve Me at All),” a kiss-off that crescendos into a divine meditation on self-love.

— Suzy Exposito

Things we read this week that we think you should read

— Grupo Firme was in Boyle Heights last Thursday and no one thought to tell me?!? SMH. Story by Nardine Saad.

— El Compa (and Los Angeles Times en Español colleague) Soudi Jiménez is reporting from Guatemala ahead of the country’s upcoming June 25 presidential election. His latest dispatch focuses on the minimal attendance by presidential hopefuls at a candidate forum held May 5 in Los Angeles.

— For Rolling Stone, the homie Julyssa Lopez followed the Uvalde High School mariachi team, a source of unity and pride for a community still reeling a year after the deadliest school shooting in Texas history.

— My colleagues Stephanie Breijo and Nathan Solis wrote this heartbreaking tribute to Maria Esther Valdivia, the beloved taco matriarch and co-founder of Tacos Delta who died last week as a result of injuries sustained as she was hit by a car while crossing the street. Q.E.P.D.

— A tip of the hat to Times columnist Gustavo Arellano, who shared this story from Wyoming Public Media about TODO TV, the only Spanish-language news channel in Wyoming and Idaho. And speaking of Gustavo, he has some thoughts on the whole “Taco Tuesday” trademark conversation. You can find his latest column here.

— In a fantastic and nuanced essay for Texas Monthly, el profe Aaron E. Sánchez wrote about his complicated feelings about being the son of a military veteran and a Latino. This part right here, though:

Latino warrior patriotism was supposed to prove Latinos deserved to be treated equally. It hasn’t worked. Tens of thousands of veterans have been deported due to a law passed in 1996. Within the military, Latinos are underrepresented in leadership positions. Latinas have enlisted at higher rates than Latinos in recent decades, but the military is still plagued by issues of sexual harassment and sexual violence.

— The Tallahassee Democrat is reporting that several businesses will be closed today in protest of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signing the anti-immigrant SB 1718 into law.

“I’m trying to support all of the immigrant people,” said Victor Prado, the general manager of El Mariachi restaurant in West Palm Beach, which plans to be closed Thursday. “They come to this country to get a better life. We left everyone in our country to come to this beautiful country to live better.”

— Fidel Martinez