Virtual Panel: Queer Brown Stories Over Time & Spaces

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Four queer Latinx cultural producers share examples of how our presentation of documented events, artworks and political stories have elevated social justice movements in the United States over the last few decades. Brief multimedia items (videos and photos) will be shared by each panelist, followed by a facilitated discussion and Q&A with audience members. Facilitator: Tina Valentin Aguirre (they/them/theirs). Panelists: Chris E. Vargas (he/him/his), Jose Gutierrez (he/him/his) and Osa Hidalgo de la Riva (she/her/hers).

Tina Valentin Aguirre is originally from Logan Heights, San Diego. In the early 1990s, they helped set up AIDS programs in San Francisco at Mission Neighborhood Health Center’s Clínica Esperanza and Community United in Response to AIDS/SIDA (CURAS). In 1992, they appeared in Augie Robles’ Cholo Joto video; Augie and Tina made ¡Viva 16! (1994, a 28-minute documentary) to mark the loss and struggles of the queer Latinx community in The City. In 2019, selections of Tina’s poetry were published (Still Here San Francisco Anthology, Foglifter Press); ¡Viva 16! was shown at Artists Television Access, the Oakland Museum of California (Queer California exhibit) and the GLBT Historical Society Museum; and Tina curated the Chosen Familias exhibition on LGBTQ Latinx family photo albums at the GLBT Historical Society Museum. Tina holds a BA in Communication from Stanford University and serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for the GLBT Historical Society.

Connect with Tina Valentin Aguirre – Instagram

Jose Gutierrez holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University Ana G. Mendez in Washington, DC. Jose is a local and national long time human rights and social justice activist, immigration advocate, Latinx LGBTQ historian, artist, writer and a poet. He is the founder of the Jose Gutierrez Archives, the Latino GLBT History Project, the DC Latino Pride and co-founder of the Rainbow History Project. As the first International Leatherboy in 2002 he raised awareness and funds for the leather community. In 2014 he received the Jose Sarria medal of honor by Nicole Murray-Ramirez, The Queen Mother of the Americas for his contributions to the LGBTQ and in 2015 contributed to the book Queer Brown Voices, with an interview/essay entitled “We must preserve our Latino LGBTQ history”. Jose works with the DC Gov DHS, currently he is writing a book about the history of the Washington, DC Latinx LGBTQ.

Connect with Jose Gutierrez

Chris E. Vargas is a video maker & interdisciplinary artist. He earned his MFA in the department of Art Practice from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2011. He is a recipient of a 2016 Creative Capital award and is currently a 2020 John C. Guggenheim fellow. From 2008-2013, he made, in collaboration with Greg Youmans, the web-based trans/cisgender sitcom Falling In Love…with Chris and Greg. With Eric Stanley, Vargas co-directed the movie Homotopia (2006) and its feature-length sequel Criminal Queers (2015). Vargas is also the Executive Director of MOTHA, the Museum of Transgender Hirstory & Art, a critical and conceptual arts & hirstory institution highlighting the contributions of trans art to the cultural and political landscape.

Connect with Chris E. Vargas – Website | Instagram | Twitter

Dr. Osa Hidalgo de la Riva received her Ph.D. from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema and Television in the Critical Studies Division. She taught an American Cultures course “Ethnicity and Race in Contemporary Film” at the University of California-Berkeley, from 2008-2013. In 2012, she was the recipient of the Chancellor’s Public Scholar Award from UC-Berkeley’s Ethnic Studies Department. Her film Mujeria: The Olmeca Rap premiered at the Kabuki Theater in San Francisco; Mujeria: Primitive and Proud debuted at the Roxie Cinema, SF. Both attracted capacity audiences and were distributed by Women Make Movies, NY. Two Spirits: Native Lesbians and Gay Men is distributed by Third World Newsreel, NY. In 2007, her animation artwork Las Olmecas was included in 500 years of Chicana Women’s History, edited by Elizabeth Martinez. “Dr. Eagle Bear” has lectured and spoken at numerous film festivals, seminars, community centers and universities throughout California, as well as nationally, in Mexico, Canada, and Europe.

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