Brown and Gay in L.A With Author Anthony Ocampo – The Signal
Ricardo Gutierrez, Anthony Ocampo and Theodore Alvarez hanging out after the event. (Courtesy of Emily Ascencio and Odalis Cortes)
Anthony Ocampo and the Warrior Cross Cultural Center recently gave CSU Stanislaus students and local community members the opportunity to sit in on a culturally engaging talk on what’s it’s like to be a queer person of color through the “Brown and Gay in L.A” lecture and panel.
Author of “Brown and Gay in L.A,” Anthony Ocampo gave an engaging lecture, which focused on topics like intersectionality, immigration, and queer censorship, by talking about his own experiences, as well as the experiences of those he interviewed for his book.
The book is primarily focused on queer men of color, specifically Filipino Americans and and Mexican Americans, and their experiences as someone who is in the crossroads between two or more minority groups, known as intersectionality.
Group picture of the members of the WCCC with panelists and Dr.Ocampo. (Courtesy of Emily Ascencio and Odalis Cortes)
Ocampo said he had a lot of interesting conversations while writing his book, which he spent about ten years writing.
“I had my very first sit down conversation with young Filipino Americans and Mexican American young men and essentially what we would do is meet up at Starbucks or some outdoor mall and just ‘kiki’ about our lives,” he said. “What was really revealing when interviewing queer men of color is how much energy went into trying to curate every aspect of their lives.”
Ocampo later revealed that two panelists would be joining to talk about their own experiences.
Theodore Alvarez, (junior, Biology) and Ricardo Gutierrez, (senior, Psychology) both shared with the audience their experiences as well as their aspiration to see more representation around the campus community.
“I would love to see a progressive flag in the quad where they have the warrior flag,” Alvarez said. “It would make me feel more welcomed.”
Guitierrez said he’d like to see black and brown and trans queer art on buildings around campus.
“I want to see it in the biology department and social sciences,” he said. “I want to see it everywhere. I also want to see more LGBT events [on campus] that cater towards more black and brown audiences.”
Alvarez and Gutierrez’s progressive views shed a new light on our community, in the spirit of diversifying the Stan State campus to make it more welcoming towards all communities.
If you’re interested in joining the next workshop or event hosted by the Warriors Cross Cultural Center, click here to take a peek at what they will be hosting throughout the semester.