“The queer counterculture Axis Mundo explores is made as vital as ever by our present cultural and political moment. As queer, minority and other marginalized identities find themselves uniquely imperiled in today's political climate, the questions that the queer Chicano/a artists featured in Axis Mundo contemplated at the time—questions having to do with identity, artistic protest and American culture—are made newly relevant by recent history.” (Assunção “Queer Chicano Art Is as Timeless As It Is Vital”).
On October 4th, I attended the Axis Mundo exhibit at the University of Denver with the Queer Student Alliance (QSA) and SOMOS. I did not really know what to expect of the event in the beginning. I never knew there even was any form of a queer Chicano movement beforehand. With my lack of knowledge of that specific event, I realized that while the LGBTQIA+ movement did amazing things, many people of color, including the Latinx community, were not fully recognized in the agenda. In The Gay Revolution: The Story Of The Struggle by Lillian Faderman, she writes the following specifically about the Latinx people that identified as LGBTQIA+ in Los Angeles in the seventies:
“...Latinos had been barely visible in LA’s many gay and lesbian organizations. (Faderman 420).
Because I knew nothing about the Chicano community in this specific movement, I knew immediately that it would be an educational experience for me as an ally who is continually wanting to learn more about LGBTQIA+ movements.
Once we got to the University of Denver’s Art gallery, we were given a tour of the exhibit. The guide gave our group some descriptions of certain forms of art that were critical to the Axis Mundo movement. One of them being magazines with various forms of art and literature. Around this time, “...an explosion of books and magazines brought homosexuality into the public arena.” (Rupp 144). Another was a photography session. The person being photographed was diagnosed with AIDS and wanted his partner to have pictures of himself that represented the crucifixion. Parts of the pictures were then framed into a cross and were shown at his funeral. This was the first time the public has seen those pictures.
The AIDS epidemic art pieces of the Axis Mundo exhibit were the most intriguing section for me. Spreading awareness about AIDS has especially been important for me since my great-uncle lost his partner to the disease when my mom was a teenager. Most of them had religious references, specifically to the Catholic Church. According to Faderman as well, she writes that “The strong Catholicism of the Latino neighborhood had always encouraged its members to see homosexuals as sinners…” (Faderman 421). It broke my heart to see how during the epidemic how cruel many churches were, especially to these Latinx people who were diagnosed with the disease, or who even were identifying themselves as not straight.
This is unfortunately still a big issue for the community today. I have gotten to witness here how the Jesuit community is very accepting of people who identify as LGBTQIA+, yet within the Catholic Church today, they still struggle with accepting people who do not recognize themselves as straight or with their biological sex. Therefore, people from the Latinx communities, along with other races and ethnic backgrounds, should come together to continue the work that the Chicano movement began within the Catholic Churches.
In the end, this was a unique way for me to learn about Axis Mundo. I feel that I learned about a part of the movement that clearly needs to be talked about more. Because of this exhibit, the fire in me for creating justice for all people who want to be their authentic selves is even larger.
On October 4th, I attended the Axis Mundo exhibit at the University of Denver with the Queer Student Alliance (QSA) and SOMOS. I did not really know what to expect of the event in the beginning. I never knew there even was any form of a queer Chicano movement beforehand. With my lack of knowledge of that specific event, I realized that while the LGBTQIA+ movement did amazing things, many people of color, including the Latinx community, were not fully recognized in the agenda. In The Gay Revolution: The Story Of The Struggle by Lillian Faderman, she writes the following specifically about the Latinx people that identified as LGBTQIA+ in Los Angeles in the seventies:
“...Latinos had been barely visible in LA’s many gay and lesbian organizations. (Faderman 420).
Because I knew nothing about the Chicano community in this specific movement, I knew immediately that it would be an educational experience for me as an ally who is continually wanting to learn more about LGBTQIA+ movements.
Once we got to the University of Denver’s Art gallery, we were given a tour of the exhibit. The guide gave our group some descriptions of certain forms of art that were critical to the Axis Mundo movement. One of them being magazines with various forms of art and literature. Around this time, “...an explosion of books and magazines brought homosexuality into the public arena.” (Rupp 144). Another was a photography session. The person being photographed was diagnosed with AIDS and wanted his partner to have pictures of himself that represented the crucifixion. Parts of the pictures were then framed into a cross and were shown at his funeral. This was the first time the public has seen those pictures.
The AIDS epidemic art pieces of the Axis Mundo exhibit were the most intriguing section for me. Spreading awareness about AIDS has especially been important for me since my great-uncle lost his partner to the disease when my mom was a teenager. Most of them had religious references, specifically to the Catholic Church. According to Faderman as well, she writes that “The strong Catholicism of the Latino neighborhood had always encouraged its members to see homosexuals as sinners…” (Faderman 421). It broke my heart to see how during the epidemic how cruel many churches were, especially to these Latinx people who were diagnosed with the disease, or who even were identifying themselves as not straight.
This is unfortunately still a big issue for the community today. I have gotten to witness here how the Jesuit community is very accepting of people who identify as LGBTQIA+, yet within the Catholic Church today, they still struggle with accepting people who do not recognize themselves as straight or with their biological sex. Therefore, people from the Latinx communities, along with other races and ethnic backgrounds, should come together to continue the work that the Chicano movement began within the Catholic Churches.
In the end, this was a unique way for me to learn about Axis Mundo. I feel that I learned about a part of the movement that clearly needs to be talked about more. Because of this exhibit, the fire in me for creating justice for all people who want to be their authentic selves is even larger.
I am glad you were able to attend this event, especially with other Regis students from QSA and Somos. It sounds like you learned a lot from going!
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