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Galer\u00eda de la Raza\u2019s \u201cPor Vida\u201d mural stirred a heated discussion among Latino and LGBTQ communities after its installation on June 13, so much so that it was vandalized four times: initially with spray paint and finally set on fire.<\/p>\n
The arson attack, which occurred on June 29, was captured on security cameras and the San Francisco Police Department is still looking for the perpetrator. On July 18 the SFPD released the arson video to the public asking for help identifying the suspect, who appeared completely covered in black clothing and wearing white shoes as he lit the mural on fire and then ran away. So far no one has come forward. <\/p>\n
A week after the video\u2019s release, Galer\u00eda de la Raza held an open forum on July 25 to discuss with the community what happened and share different thoughts on the issue. None of those who publicly opposed the mural (mostly on social media) showed up.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough there\u2019s lots of haters who are typing things onto their phones, there are actual real people on the block that are doing personal interactions with young people based on this event,\u201d said Nancy Pili, a social activist, artist and panelist. <\/p>\n
About 100 people filled City College of San Francisco\u2019s Mission Campus auditorium, where many members of the Latino LGBTQ community were present. All of those who spoke showed support of Galer\u00eda de la Raza and the mural\u2019s artist, Manuel Paul, who was among the panelists.<\/p>\n
Critics of the mural have said it was a form of cultural appropriation, misrepresenting their culture while portraying something that didn\u2019t exist: LGBT cholos and cholas. The mural showed a gay couple, a lesbian couple and a transgender man in a lowrider-style portrait.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are calling it \u2018culture vulturism,\u2019\u201d Pili said. \u201cThe idea of cholos being portrayed by people who are not cholos \u2026 They feel like their stories have been written for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
When attendee Yolanda Lopez looks at the mural, she sees another message: \u201cThis is our family. This is who we are,\u201d she said, arguing that this is what the mural ultimately represents.<\/p>\n
The resounding message, even if the mural brought hateful comments and actions, was that it also helped spur the conversation about accepting LGBTQ people within the Latino community.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a blessing in disguise,\u201d muralist and panelist Carlos \u201cKookie\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cThis mural shows the power that art has.\u201d
\nMachismo, religion and family pressures, as well as gang culture, can play a big part in the upbringing of Latino youths, who often grow up thinking being gay is not acceptable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s how we were brought up,\u201d said Joanna Bermudez-Hernandez, a re-entry program monitor and panelist at the event. \u201cThe mural really sparked up a lot of conversations in people\u2019s homes.\u201d<\/p>\n
When he came out at 15, artist and activist Joey Terrell heard his mother say she would have preferred him being a heroin addict or a murderer. \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for your sister,\u201d he remembered his mother telling him, \u201cI would commit suicide.\u201d <\/p>\n
Terrell, who was also a panelist at the event, doesn\u2019t blame her. \u201cThat\u2019s how she was brought up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a responsibility as men to change this,\u201d said artist and activist Juan Fuentes, who was also on the panel.
\nMany complained, however, that not many young people were present.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t see the people we are trying to educate,\u201d Gonzales said. Having grown up within the gang culture himself, Gonzales said he understands the mindset behind the vandalism.<\/p>\n
\u201cA part of that culture, is homophobia,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s an anti-gay sentiment within the Latino community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Panelist Luciano Sagastume, a writer and community activist who is also a transgender man, said trans-, gay- and black-phobia separate the community. \u201cIt makes our power less visible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sagastume had to move to San Francisco before being able to call himself a trans man when he was 26. Sagastume said he came out at 15 but was still confused about his identity. Without seeing himself represented anywhere, he didn\u2019t even know he could be trans. \u201cI had never seen a trans man,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It is for this very reason that the mural is so important to so many.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe take public space and we assert the right that we exist,\u201d Pili said. \u201cThey can go paint the mural of straight cholos across the street if they like.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cartist who created all the stink,\u201d as Gonzales called him, said he would have never thought the mural would have triggered a reaction this big. Paul is from the Los Angeles-based Maric\u00f3n Collective, a group of Chicano\/Latino LGBTQ DJs and artists.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it would be OK to put the mural in that area,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce it got out in the real world it got really scary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul was worried by Galer\u00eda restoring the mural twice, but he then realized that it was a good way to keep the conversation going. He said many of his friends found the courage to come out to their parents because of it.<\/p>\n
Denise Benavides, a Galer\u00eda de la Raza supporter, said she had to move out before finding the courage to say she was a \u201cqueer Chicana\u201d to her family. Nobody in her extended family of more than 50 people is openly gay.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish that more of the young people were here,\u201d Pili said. \u201cWe need to talk face to face, not on the Internet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Galer\u00eda de la Raza executive director Ani Rivera said the forum was \u201ca step in the right direction,\u201d and that the conversation would continue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a community por vida,\u201d Fuentes said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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