Ep 3: Amigas Latinas - Latina, Queer and Together
"What Does it Mean to Be Latina and Lesbian?"
Episode Release Date: 3/1/2022
Founded in 1995, Amigas Latinas was a volunteer-run organization that specifically served the LBTQ Latina community through monthly discussion groups, support groups, workshops, educational training, public programs, and events. The group advocated to ensure that legislators, funders, and other not-for-profit organizations consider the intersection of issues faced by LBTQ Latinas, who often struggled within Latina/o communities and within larger LBTQ organizations.
“For a lot of women that was a really powerful thing - and almost too powerful. To walk into a room with 40 Latina lesbians owning their sexuality, celebrating their sexuality”
The group began as a small discussion group and grew to a large volunteer-led organization with monthly pláticas (discussion groups) at members’ homes.
The group also hosted a large number of additonal events including salsa nights, a softball team, workshops, and a variety of other groups to address the needs of Chicago’s LBTQ Latina community.
“This is about exploring our multiple identities in a safe space”
“It’s nothing short of magic – the possibilities that Amigas has provided me”
Amigas Latinas hosted a wide variety of workshops on topics such as assistance for women with children, coming out to family members, navigating the legal system, and education.
This episode includes a long-form interview with founders Mona Noriega and Evette Cardona as well as the voices of other members of this incredible community group.
“It’s more than just being proud – I’m really happy that I was a part of it and that I still feel connected to the community”
Want to learn more?
- Amigas Latinas Archival Finding Aid
- Virtual Events
- Amigas Latinas discussion with Evette Cardona, Mona Noriega, Lourdes Torres, Amanda Cervantes, and Jose Luis Benavides
- Lesbians and Feminism Panel Discussion (including Mona Noriega discussing Amigas Latinas and LLENA)
- Lourdes Torres (2013) Compañeras in the Middle: Toward a History of Latina Lesbian Organizing in Chicago
- Follow the Dust - work by artists Amanda Cervantes and Jose Luis Benavides