Click here to join this CLGS Queer & Latinx Faith Conversation via Zoom!
In this online CLGS Queer & Latinx Faith Conversation, sponsored by The CLGS Latinx Roundtable | Fe, Familia, Igualdad, Rhina Ramos, Yadi Martínez-Reyna, and RJ Robles lead us in a conversation in which we explore a borderless, genderless God, a God of vastness and infinite grace, and how this God is manifesting their love through the ministries of these three Latines siblings.
Rev. Rhina Ramos (she, her, hers) is an ordained United Church of Christ doing work of LGBTQI inclusion in faith communities. Locally, she leads a Spanish speaking congregation she co-founded in December 2011. Ministerio Latino is home to LGBTQ Latine immigrants and a place where they are welcomed and affirmed. She is a nationally known faith leader fighting for radical inclusion of the LGBTQI community in faith spaces. Pastor Rhina is also a former attorney who practiced labor law in NY during the ‘90s on behalf of immigrant workers, recuperating thousands of wages owed to these workers. Originally from El Salvador, Pastor Rhina understands the pains of being an immigrant and starting life in a new country. In her free time, she can be found taking long walks listening to sappy romantic music in Spanish.
The Rev. Yadi Martínez-Reyna (MDiv), ordained by the United Church of Christ (UCC), is a bilingual Latinx gender non-binary artist, a borderlander, and founder of Color Splash Out, a BIPOC led non-profit organization dedicated to creating safe and brave spaces for LGBTQ+ Youth and their ally friends. Rev. Yadi was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley in the frontera of Brownsville and Matamoros, Mexico. Rev. Yadi serves as a Co-Pastor at First UCC in 2nd Life, a real-life church with real-life standing in the Southern California Nevada Conference of the UCC.
Rev. RJ Robles is an LGBTQ afro-indigenous borikua scholar-activist-healer. They seek to continue the strong legacy of trans people of color organizing and mobilizing collective care for trans liberation and healing. Rev. Robles holds an MDiv degree from Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, Tennessee. In school their research focus was on the intersections of race, gender, sexuality and religion. They have professional experiences serving a range of different communities as a direct care service provider in the fields of HIV/AIDS, transgender healthcare, domestic violence, Black and Brown spiritual healing, BIPOC colonial trauma healing, healing among community organizers, and transfeminist community-based projects.