Let’s Talk About Puerto Rico: LGBTQIA+ Community & History
Date: Saturday, May 25 from 12:00 – 3:00 PM
Location: Mi Centro LGBTQ Community Center
553 South Clarence Street
Los Angeles, CA 90033
Limited street parking is available. Public transportation, taxi services and ride-sharing are highly encouraged.
This event is free and open to the public, but RSVPs required. To RSVP, click here.
Join us for an afternoon of live music, food, and a variety of speakers that will talk about Puerto Rican LGBTQIA+ community and history! Let’s Talk About Puerto Rico began in September 2018 as a traveling lecture series that covers Puerto Rican art, music, history and current affairs and an opportunity to build community with Puerto Ricans in the greater Los Angeles area. In this edition of the series, Puerto Ricans in Action, the One Institute, and Latino Equality Alliance have organized a series of speakers that will discuss Puerto Rican LGBTQIA+ community and history.
Enjoy live music from DJ ZÜM. Food from the Triple Threat Truck, Los Angeles’ only Puerto Rican food truck, will be available for purchase. Additionally, complimentary Puerto Rican desserts and coffee from Sweedith Bakes will be provided. A host of community resources will be offered to take, and archival reproductions of LGBTQIA+ Puerto Rican history from ONE Archives at the USC Libraries will be available to view.
Let’s Talk About Puerto Rico: LGBTQIA+ Community & History is organized by Puerto Ricans in Action, the One Institute, and Latino Equality Alliance.
About the Speakers
Alberto J. Valentin Camacho, Esq. is the Executive Director of the Governor of Puerto Rico’s Advisory Council on LGBTT Affairs and the Deputy Director for the Legislative Advisors to the Governor of Puerto Rico. Alberto has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Puerto Rico, with a concentration in International Policy and Processes from the European Union of the Autonomous University of Madrid. He has a Juris Doctor from the Law School of the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico and was admitted for the legal practice in Puerto Rico in 2015. Recently Alberto is finishing his LLM (Master in Law) in Environmental Law and Climate Change, from the Law School of the University of Vermont.
Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro is an award-winning Afro lesbian novelist, short story writer, essayist, and feminist activist from Puerto Rico; she addresses both racial and gender issues, and sexual identity in her combative, non-conformist, and creative works. She offers lectures about Afro-atheism, decolonial feminism, LGBTTQ issues and how to be an atheist and a black woman in today’s society. She is also the Director of the Department of Afro-Puerto Rican Studies, a performative project of Creative Writing based in San Juan and has founded the Chair of Ancestral Black Women to respond to the invitation promulgated by UNESCO to celebrate the International Decade of Afro- Descendants 2015−2024. Her book Las Negras, winner of the PEN Club Puerto Rico National Short Story Award in 2013, explores the limits of female characters during the slavery period that challenged hierarchies of power. She also won the Prize of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture in 2015 and 2012, and the National Prize of the Institute of Puerto Rican Literature in 2008. She has been translated into German, French, Italian, English, Portuguese and Hungarian.
Dr. Wilfred W. Labiosa is a co-founder & Executive Director of the nonprofit Waves Ahead, which is dedicated to working with marginalized and vulnerable sectors of Puerto Rican society—LGBTQ folks, seniors, and people experiencing homelessness—reestablish and strengthen their communities. He received his Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern University, a master’s certificate in non-profit management from Suffolk University, and completed his internship in the Department of Psychiatry of Children’s Hospital, Boston. He has held numerous executive positions in nonprofit organizations and has been working in the public health field for over 25 years with marginalized communities focusing in Latinos, HIV/AIDS prevention and interventions, mental health, LGBTTQ community, and those in recovery from substance abuse or alcohol.
Erik Adamian and Nick Bihr are team members of the Education department at the One Institute, the oldest continuously operating LGBTQ organization in the United States. They have presented at workshops and conferences on the importance of LGBTQ history and culture in K–12 education. Erik and Nick work on a variety of education initiatives at the One Institute.
About Puerto Ricans in Action (PRiA)
A fiscally sponsored 501c(3), PRiA’s mission is to ensure the vibrant future of the Puerto Rican people by strengthening Puerto Rican identity, communities, and connection with Puerto Rico. Our goals are to be the central organizer for the Puerto Rican community in Los Angeles and to ensure everyone on the island has access to clean drinking water. To learn more about Puerto Rican’s in Action, please click here.
About the One Institute, Inc.
The One Institute, Inc. is an independent 501(c)(3) dedicated to telling the accurate and authentic stories of LGBTQ people, history and culture through public exhibitions, educational projects and trainings, and community outreach programs. Founded in 1952, the One Institute, Inc. is the oldest continuously operating LGBTQ organization in the United States. Today, the One Institute preserves and presents LGBTQ history, art, and culture in collaboration with ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. To learn more about the One Institute, please click here.
About Latino Equality Alliance (LEA)
The mission of LEA is to promote liberty, equality, and justice for the Latina/o lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. As a non-profit organization with a strong focus on family acceptance, LGBT equality, and immigration reform; LEA engages Latina/o LGBT community leaders and organizations in direct action organizing to address issues of bullying, homophobia, xenophobia, family separation, violence against youth, homelessness, high health risk behaviors and HIV/AIDS. To learn more about Latino Equality Alliance, please click here.
