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Borderlands

The Borderlands Speaker is an intentional collaboration between the Pride Resource Center, El Centro and Ram Events to honor the overlap of Latinx Heritage Month and LGBTQ+ History Month. The Borderlands speaker is intentionally chosen each year by these offices to honor the intersectional experiences, stories and contributions of the Queer and Trans Latinx community.  

We drew inspiration in naming this series from Gloria Anazaldua’s semi-autobiographical book, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. In this important text Gloria examines Chicano and Latino experiences through the identity lens of gender, sexuality, and spirituality. Borderlands theory refers to the visible and invisible geographical, physiological, social and identity borders that one must navigate at intersections of race, gender and sexual orientation. Our hope is that this intentional collaboration, along future collaborations, will help to break down these visible and invisible borders for Queer and Trans Latinx students at CSU.  

By intentionally naming this collaboration as the Borderlands speaker we honor the theoretical foundations that Gloria has created for Queer Latinx folks AND simultaneously, we must also acknowledge the limitations of her work in that she addresses gender from a cisgender perspective and does not always nuance the ways that gender variance impacts how folks experience their intersectional identities. That is part of the work that we believe is important for us to keep pushing. Collectively we honor the foundations Borderlands theory has created for us, and we also commit to pushing the narrative to address the full experiences

Borderlands Speakers

Cleopatra Tatabele - October 2023

Cleopatra Tatabele, is an activist, educator, and organizer grounded in their Black, Indigenous, and Latinx ancestry and Two Spirit identity.

 

Borderlands Speaker: Cleopatra Tatbele, 6-7 PM, Thursday, October 12, LSC Never No Summer (Nii-cii-Bilcei'i)

Sonia Guinansaca - October 2022

Gabby Rivera - October 2021

Gabby Rivera flyer

La Espiritista - October 2020

La Espiritista flyer