Happy Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month!

Traditionally celebrated from September 15 to October 15, this is a time to honor our Hispanic and Latinx heritage and the many contributions our culture offers to society and the world of theological education. At CLGS, and at PSR, we celebrate our familia and express our gratitude for the invaluable contributions of our Latinx community members. To honor this month, the Latinx Roundtable (LRT) at CLGS has hosted three panels discussing key themes of our culture: identity, family, and activism.

On September 16, the LRT featured the Latinx faculty at PSR in a conversation about Latinx identity in an event titled “Mi Gente: Celebrating our Queer Latinx Heritage.” Dr. Ish Ruiz, Dr. Alexandra Rosado Roman, and President David Vasquez-Levi discussed how Latinidad encompasses identity, decolonialism, and political activism. When infused with a queer epistemology, our Latinidad goes beyond material activism and begins to challenge the underlying norms that perpetuate oppressive binaries and sustain social, cultural, and political systems that otherize and marginalize.

Our second event, hosted on October 1, explored how queerness and Latinidad intersect in the concept of familia. In our panel, titled “Mi Casa Es Tu Casa: Queer Latinx Reflections on the Family,” Dr. MT Davila and Dr. Natalia Imperatori-Lee offered pastoral and theological reflections on the meaning of family in light of queerness. In addition to being an identity that merits pastoral care and attention in the context of the home, queerness operates as an epistemological project that helps us to redefine the meaning of familia in order to disrupt cisnormative and heteronormative patriarchy, which is a predominant underlying hegemonic principle in contemporary oppression in Latinx cultures.

Closing out our Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month celebration, we will host Latina activist Lisbeth Melendez Rivera on a conversation about grassroot political movements in Latinx culture. The event, titled “Si Se Puede: Queer Spirituality and Latinx Social Activism” will take place on October 15 via Zoom.

Future events include a November book club discussing Queer God de Amor by Miguel Díaz (meeting on Nov 5, 12, and 19 – the last one features a conversation with the author) and a live event featuring an indigenous Afro-Caribbean genre of song and dance from Puerto Rico known as Bomba, to be held at the Badé Museum at the Pacific School of Religion on December 3 (and live streamed).

All of these events reflect the mission of the Latinx roundtable, which aims to facilitate spaces for dialogue, critical reflection, and spiritual discernment through online programming that develops and equips active leaders at the intersection of queer, Latinx, and spiritual identities. We feel called to build a world where all persons, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or religious/spiritual affiliation can flourish and live a life of dignity. Spiritual, faith-based, and religious leadership plays a crucial role in this vision, which is why the LRT is committed to serving as a space where we can critically reflect on the theological, political, cultural, and spiritual insights located at the intersection of queerness, Latinidad, and faith/spirituality.

Drawing heavily (though not exclusively) from the Christian tradition and the insights of this 3-way intersection, we dream of a world where queer Latinx spiritual perspectives take active leadership in the journey toward what Christians refers to as the Kingdom of God, a utopic eschatological vision where all persons can thrive.

¡Únanse!

Join us!

Dr. Ish Ruiz | Coordinator of the CLGS Latinx Roundtable | Assistant Professor of Latinx and Queer Decolonial Theology at Pacific School of Religion