The Rio Grande Valley as Heart of LGBTQ+ Resistance and Joy

We were just about done setting up for our workshop at the San Benito Cultural Heritage Museum when Hector Ruiz president of the South Texas Equality Project STEP walked in STEP is a coalition of diverse groups that celebrate and advocate for the LGBTQ district in the Rio Grande Valley Friend I rushed over to him Qu gusto verte Girl he playfully replied as he leaned in closer for a hug This is one of five queer events I m going to in the present day Let s pray I can make it From the museum we were equidistant from two key political events that had occurred that week Forty miles to the East an explosion after yet another failed SpaceX test in Boca Chica and miles to the West Senator Bernie Sanders packed a McAllen event center as part of his Fighting Oligarchy tour In the Valley we are no strangers to being the backdrop of political power wars From Elon Musk s land-grab to Donald Trump and Greg Abbott s power-grab territory line residents are constantly cornered with restrictive narratives that capture the imagination of Americans across the nation With frames meant to reduce our stories and humanity we re often made out to be these powerless one-dimensional caricatures that don t know any better and can t advocate for ourselves But as we celebrate Pride Month I am struck by the contrast of what I know to be true about this region and what the popular narratives may be behind the curtain of these filters imposed by outsiders the Valley boasts an abundance of creative powerful and joyful communities one of them being the LGBTQ district Starting in Brownsville a short drive from Musk s SpaceX you can find a thriving system of queer business advocacy heritage and nightlife Take Shop JZD a queer-owned Latina lifestyle brand headquartered in downtown Brownsville that in April revealed a prestigious collaboration with Brooks the iconic running shoes brand Down the street from their store you can find Bar-B an LGBTQ bar that hosted a Pride flag-raising event on the first day of Pride Month with the help of the city commission s LGBTQ Task Force established in And if you re lucky you might run into Emmy award-winning star Lushious Massacr during one of her famous dragvestigations where she masterfully blends pop heritage and timely political perspectives That s not to say that the area doesn t also actively engage in direct advocacy Earlier this year a group of trans leaders pushed Democratic Congressman Vicente Gonzalez to meet with us and address his transphobic rants after Trump s re-election After gathering more than petition signatures condemning his remarks we confronted the congressman in a virtual meeting where he listened to his constituents personal stories and the impact his remarks have on the lives of trans individuals Then we head East to the San Benito and Harlingen area Raised in San Benito Jade Perez was just crowned Miss Gay USofA in one of the preponderance pivotal and respected drag pageants in the United States In Harlingen creative queer-owned businesses like ENTRE Film Center and Cactus Valley Art provide spaces for artistic expression society building and workshops And a inadequate minutes down the highway in La Feria you will find Mount Calvary Christian Church a trans and queer-led church a rare beacon of hope for faith and spirituality for our South Texas locality In San Juan La Uni n del Pueblo Entero LUPE is hosting its second annual Pride celebrations LUPE founded by labor rights leaders Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta is a legacy organization from the farmworker and Chicano civil rights movement of the s and s Earlier this month the group hosted a panel in Spanish with local trans leaders to discuss identity and advocacy With an audience composed of mainly older working-class immigrants it made for a unique space that challenged LUPE s members to have critical conversations and build solidarity across differences The truth is we could go city by city in the Valley sharing its historic and present significance to the LGBTQ society Even in the westernmost rural part of the region in Starr County the Roma High School Inclusion Club formerly known as the Roma High School Gay-Straight Alliance GSA is actively organizing To add to its cultural impact the Roma GSA founder Frank Garcia eventually went on to compete in the primetime show The Voice Multiple might find themselves surprised at the abundance and depth of the LGBTQ area in the Rio Grande Valley and this just scratches the surface There s a long list of craft groups book clubs running clubs and so numerous other initiatives that have made for an event-filled Pride Month Projects like Pansy Pachanga have served to provide critical historical context to the long-standing presence of queer and trans people on the frontier and organizations like the South Texas Equality Project GenTex and Under the Umbrella guide us to fight for the present and envision a more inclusive future for the politically contested region While we might not be the biggest in terms of population compared to other Texas metro areas it is an undeniable fact that the LGBTQ society of the Rio Grande Valley is a shining example of grit resistance and bliss especially as we see the rise of aggressive anti-democratic practices from the state and federal leadership With billionaires and power-hungry politicians in every corner of our region trying to gain at our expense we dare to exist beyond the headlines and define ourselves for ourselves one drag show one endorsement group and one protest at a time The post The Rio Grande Valley as Heart of LGBTQ Resistance and Contentment appeared first on The Texas Observer