Gateway City Pride Association to host ‘Pride in History’ – Laredo Morning Times

“We’ve partnered with local organizations and businesses to highlight one icon within their industry, but they can choose anyone they feel has made an impact,” said Jorge Quijano, founder and president of the Gateway City Pride Association. “There is just so much history for and within our LGBTQ+ community, whether it be individuals and/or events.”

Quijano states that the organization chooses figures that have helped out the LGBTQ+ community, as there are continued significant systematic and societal barriers to full representation. 

“These trailblazers changed the world by paving the way for our community through their activism or are cultural icons through their work,” he said. “We feel their stories deserve to be told and shared in our city. I don’t recall learning about the New York City Stonewall riots of 1969 during my middle or high school years.”

Quijano said that during that period, bars and nightclubs that catered to the LGBTQ+ community were constantly raided while patrons were harassed and brutalized because they were different. It took one brick thrown by Latina transgender rights activist Sylvia Rivera to make a loud statement that enough is enough. The first Gay Pride march was coordinated the following year, which is still done today in the forms of Pride parades and festivals.

The celebration of Pride history is important because there are more historical figures that many people do not know about, Quijano said. For example, Bayard Rustin was a close friend and adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. Opposing parties used Rustin’s sexuality as a threat to spread lies about the relationship between him and Dr. King. Eventually, Quijano states that this meant he worked in the shadows to prevent any controversy.

“There is a great deal of history that I’m still learning about,” Quijano said. “Many people have fought for our rights and have used their platforms to advance our community. The purpose of this event is to bring these icons and contributors to light so we can know more about them, the events and our history.”

Other more modern figures are also making history for the community, such as Las Vegas Raiders defensive lineman Carl Nassib — the first active NFL player to publicly come out as gay, who made the announcement in June 2021.

The Gateway City Pride president also states that celebrating Pride history in October is important, as it was during this month that National Coming Out Day was founded in 1988 on the anniversary of the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. 

According to Quijano, the founders of National Coming Out Day believed homophobia succeeds when closeted LGBTQ+ members remain silent. Once people come out to their loved ones, their perceptions might change and will less likely have homophobic or oppressive views.

October is also National Bullying Prevention Month, and Quijano knows bullying is an issue that continues to impact people of the LGBTQ+ community profoundly. However, he considers acts against people of the community to be more discriminatory than anything, and he describes a couple of times he has been discriminated against recently. 

“I don’t have hard statistics on this, but I do believe there is a difference between bullying and discrimination,” Quijano said. “Bullying is an action that is ongoing while discrimination targets one’s aspect of their identity. I’ve been discriminated against maybe twice in the past three years. One was at a local restaurant. I was signing people for a chance to win tickets and a man told me ‘I don’t speak j—.’ I was in shock. I packed my items, went to my car and got so emotional.”

Before that incident, Quijano states that he was called a “f—–” at the parking lot of a store. The guy yelling at him was about three lanes away from where he was. 

“That didn’t affect me since he didn’t have the courage to say that to my face,” Quijano said. “I don’t know how big of an issue it is in our city, but it does happen.”

LGBTQ+ History Month now also includes Ally Week — during which students are encouraged to be allies with LGBTQ members and stand up against bullying, also known as Spirit Day.

“Allies are important and welcomed supporters of the LGBTQ+ movement, as they have one of the most powerful, influential voices,” Quijano said. “They help create a platform for activism to fight discrimination, and they personally support equality for all people, regardless of their sexual orientation. This year we recognized Sister Rosemary Welsh and Armando Lopez. They both have amazing platforms.”

According to Quijano, Sister Rosemary Welsh has done so much for Laredo and the different communities as she led the Transgender Day of Remembrance with a prayer and vigil last year and has offered her assistance with any projects that the organization coordinates. Moreover, he states that Armando Lopez is an attorney and a state board member for Equality Texas who has supported his openly gay son, and he’s worked with many of the LGBTQ+ members through the poetry slams, theater productions and other outlets. 

“It is just amazing to have allies like the ones we recognized this year,” Quijano said. “We honored Councilmember Rudy Gonzalez as the Lifetime Advocate recipient for signing the Pride Month Proclamation last year. This moment was just history in itself, since it has been the first time the City of Laredo recognized June as Pride Month, which acknowledged our LGBTQ+ Community.”

Community-wide, however, Quijano states that he feels extremely accepted anywhere that he goes. He said he has always felt comfortable at his various workplaces or when he is out at Iturbide Street or other places around the city. 

At the end of the day, Quijano hopes that one day Pride history can be shown in classrooms throughout the country and showcase how the community has also struggled for their rights as well. 

“We hope one day schools’ textbooks can mention pieces of LGBTQ+ History – events and figures,” Quijano said. “We are taught the America Revolution, the civil rights movement and our country’s fight for freedom. The Stonewall riots, I feel, is a great story of fighting for freedom and equal rights.

“In the meantime, all we can do is continue to coordinate these educational events and take advantage of the invitations we have received to talk about our nonprofit organization and participate as keynote speakers. I was recently invited as a keynote speaker at TAMIU to talk about LGBTQ+ History Month and how our local LGBTQ+ advanced. While creating the PowerPoint and working on what I was going to say, I realized how much we have done in such a short amount of time. We must continue the momentum.”

jorge.vela@lmtonline.com