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It’s Pride Month, and many in the LGBTQ+ community feel increasingly wary of actions by the current administration and lawmakers that roll back protections like access to health care and bans of trans individuals in the military.
San Antonio’s Esperanza Peace and Justice Center has emerged as a safe space for the local LGBTQ community. It’s hosting the 8th Queer Voices Pachanga this Sunday.
To preview it are two of the pachanga’s organizers, poet and spoken word artist Chibbi Orduña, creative director of Gem.In.Eyes Productions, and artist and author, Anel Flores, founder of Anel I. Flores Studios.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
Flores: I started Queer Voices as a monthly event that we did at the Pride Center. We had a Black Voices event, we had a Queer Voices in Español event, we had a Queer Voices music edition, so we had performers, writers, poets. I had a Youth Queer Voices. One of our youth, who was in seventh grade, was one of our featured writers last year, Marcela Hernández, and now has a full poetry collection, is in college in her first year at UTSA.
So, it's been great. It was monthly, and then after the pandemic, I was like, “Okay, that's a lot. I need to take a little bit of a chill pill,” literally and figuratively. I just said, “Let's do annual.”
And Chibbi and I have been doing work together, too, off and on. He's a performance poet, which is different than myself. And I thought, let's come together in those worlds and bring our voices. And so Chibbi is just so organized and so linear, and I love that. So, of course, I invited this beautiful soul.
Martinez: And so, Chibbi, tell us about your involvement in Queer Voices.
Orduña: It's my Capricorn moon, Virgo rising is what it is (laughs). Yeah, shortly after I moved to San Antonio, Anel invited me to perform at one of the monthly Queer Voices event[s]. And then she reached out to me saying, like, “Okay, I want to bring Queer Voices back now that the pandemic is done, but we kind of wanted to change it and also expand it and make it…bigger?” (laughs).
I realized that my role in this world is kind of like a curator of space, of event, of uplifting voices. I'm kind of owning this “producer hat” of sorts. And so that's where we kind of came together to start this annual Pride Queer Voices event.
And the driving force behind the expansion of it, too, was we express our voice in so many different ways, right? Anel and I are both poets and writers. But there's also people that express their voice through dance. There's people that express their voice through music, through drag, through burlesques. We have a lot of great vendors that create their own kind of craft. So, they express their voice that way.
And so, we really wanted to encompass something that showcased all the different queer voices of San Antonio and beyond, because we've had artists from outside of San Antonio also come and feature.
And so, from there, we just kind of built this whole production that, for the past couple of years, has slowly gotten bigger and bigger and bigger. And so, year one was just kind of like, here's the showcase. And year two was like, okay, what about showcase and a market? And then it's like, okay, what about showcase, a market, a resource fair, curandera blessings, we'll put board games out. It's a whole day family affair. And so that's kind of the trajectory that this has been on.
Martinez: Well, Anel, doing sort of the math in my head, this is the eighth annual. So, to me, doing my mental math, the first one would have taken place during the first Trump administration. And so is it also perhaps an act of resistance for the LGBTQ+ community?
Flores: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And that takes us into another space, and that is exactly … I was having this conversation this morning. We were talking about this weekend's protest and how wonderful and how it was this beautiful party. I was talking to another queer writer this morning. And we were talking about folks who don't go to the protest for reasons of documentation or other family situations. And we were saying, it's okay — they are doing the work in a different way.
And so that's exactly what Queer Voices is about — it's about doing the work different ways. Yes, there's the protest. Yes, there's going to the State Capitol. Yes, there's writing the letters, making the phone calls — making space here at TPR to do these stories is part of the activism.
And so then, of course, in 2016 we remember the voices in the Pulse nightclub shooting. Last Thursday was the anniversary for that. 2016 was like, “Gosh, what do we do?” And we know as artists, we know in the movimiento, we know in the civil rights movements and in publications and in our press, in our free press, that that is where our voices have come from — the artists that are doing the prints, the posters, the stories, the calavera, the satire. That's where we do the politics.
And so, this Queer Voices event absolutely is a response to the climate that we have are in right now. This political climate.
And our writers, our performers, our dancers, the burlesque dancers have political statements while they're dressing, while they're speak[ing], while they're moving their bodies. And we don't realize that if we don't witness and see this work. Our drag kings are doing work with song and poetry that are that's definitely political and definitely about our voices in every spectrum, talking about migrants, talking about the houseless communities, everything.
So, our voices span throughout, and we know that it's interconnected. So, it's absolutely a response to what's been happening.
Orduña: Last year around this time, I think a lot of us were really looking for joy. I don't know about the rest of y'all, but last year's election cycle felt seven years long, and was really like dragging us all down. And so, this year, it's about queer joy. It's a Queer Voices Pachanga. And this year, considering the situation that we're in now, that's why we incorporated the resource fair this time.
So, it's like, yes, we want to celebrate, but also, we have some real issues to discuss. There are people who are legitimately afraid, and we need to make sure that people feel equipped to meet the moment, that don't feel alone in this moment.
And so, every year, even though the concept is kind of the same, the theme and the focus has adapted to really meet the moment. And what did you call it this year? A tareada?
Flores: Tareada. It's the afternoon tareada. So, it's like because we're starting at 2 p.m., so we're doing a tareada, just the afternoon little event, and that'll be with our resource fair, our vendors will be there at the tareada. We'll have paletas and food and games, and we'll also have curandera blessings. Cuir Curanderas will be there doing free blessings for community, and people line up. We don't even realize that there are communities that are looking for spiritual health, connection, and so they come as well.
And we're so happy that the Esperanza supports the space. And the Esperanza also is paying everyone, every artist, every healer, every performer. And also not requiring that the vendors pay a vendor fee, because we also know that these artists need space to sell their work, right? And so, we're very grateful for the Esperanza and their contribution financially, and also just the marketing they do to help us and the space.
Orduña: And I think too, the way that you were talking about how everybody's kind of protest is different, everyone's Pride is also different. I was just talking to someone that just moved to San Antonio, like, two days ago, and was like, “So what's Pride like?” And it's like, well, depends on what you're into, right? If you want the parade and the “hood rat” experience. (laughs)
Flores: Which we love, which we love.
Orduña: Exactly no shame, all right? But if you want that, that's there for you. But that's not everyone's cup of tea. And that's one of the things I do appreciate about San Antonio, is that we kind of celebrate Pride all month long. And depending on how you like to celebrate, you can find something for it. And this is just another, another offering that we have for the community.
Martinez: And it just made me think, also, you're talking about that the resource fair. First time you all were offering it, offering empowerment, know-your-rights, legal updates.
There's also — and this is something that we've talked about before on the station — the responses from officials to certain acts of violence, as was evident in the Jonathan Joss murder, there are some communities that say it's still inadequate, despite the fact that the officials are undergoing some training in how to specifically respond to certain communities.
But how have each of you felt sort of in the wake of this? What kind of resources might you be able to offer to communities that you might be able to perhaps help officials with in maybe responding to these communities? Anel?
Flores: Again, we are collaborating with Barbie Hurtado and Violeta Garza, who are also performers and activists in town, but they're leading the resource fair, and they are bringing Planned Parenthood, TENT, Equality Texas. They're going to have a legal update there. And so those are some of the resources for the Sunday tareada.
And I think the thing that I think is important to remember, like Chibbi just said as well, is that that we all have different ways of celebrating Pride, but we have different ways of activism. So, for me, specifically, personally, my personal activism is mental health through creative writing.
And so, I do a lot of creating writing circles. I do Wednesdays, cohost Poetry on the Strip. It's an open mic on the strip at Sparky’s. So people, all queers who write: come. At 6 p.m. we're actually reading poetry in the middle of the bar. So, it's still light outside. People are sitting around the bar, and we don't all drink. I don't drink. So, people just come, have a Topo Chico, and we're reading our poetry. That, for me, is also a form of activism and healing our community. Our audiences will tell us: “Oh, I needed to hear that poem. Oh, I didn't know that there are people writing about this work, and I feel seen.”
With Empanada, my book Empanada, that's an older book, but people still say “I have it in my bed. It's under my bed mattress,” or “I had a father buy it for their daughter.” That's activism. It's a healing of self and spirit. And so, during these times, I know that's what we're responding to as artists. The arts saved me. I'm literally standing here alive because I read specific books that I felt like I actually existed. Specific queer voices: Stone Butch Blues, Carla Trujillo’s books, Sandra Cisneros books, Ana Castillo's books that said, "oh, I have an image. I have a space in this world, and I'm going to keep making it." So, I think we're doing that in Queer Voices.
Martinez: And Chibbi, do you have similar experience to that of Anel? Was there something that you felt saved you through the arts?
Orduña: I think the arts themselves. I grew up down in Laredo, which is 95% Mexican, 5% everything else. Very Catholic. And it was in the arts that I was able to find how I want to express myself and how I want to move through the world. And it was the kind of freedom that the queer community offers. Because when you find the right places, it's like, “Come as you are.” And if you still don't know who you are, that's fine. Experiment. Figure it out. Try on different hats, and it allows you to really find your place within yourself, so that you can find your place in this world.
And that's one of the beautiful things about art and expression in every kind of medium, whatever medium you want to operate in, is that you get to take what's inside and put it outside. And in that there's a validation of self. Because you see it, and then it is seen by others. It’s all about the art.
And to our public officials, if people want to know what the community needs, well, come ask us (laughs). It takes a lot of listening.
It brings me a lot of pride and joy to know that the City of San Antonio has an LGBTQ Advisory Board, and it really is about like the actions that need to happen. We don't need your thoughts and prayers. We are full spiritual beings of ourselves. We have our own angels and blessings and all of that. Keep your thoughts and prayers to yourself. Thank you very much. I need your legislation, and I need your action.
Flores: Yeah, absolutely.
Martinez: Well, can we run down the events happening Sunday with the Queer voices pachanga happening on June 22?
Flores: Yeah, absolutely. We are going to have … we'll have Marisol de la Muerte as a vendor. We're going to have the Sacred Rage Bookshop, Healing Human, Bark and Hiss Bowties. We're going to have El Puño y la Mano there, vendors. We'll have Ana Camacho Espiritu, vendor. San Anto Zine Fest, vendor, and we'll also have My Event Paleta Stand, vendor. These are all queer-run businesses, small businesses here in town. We're going to have again, AARC (Alamo Area Resource Center), legal updates by SA Repro Justice Coalition, Kind Clinic, AARC, TENT (Transgender Education Network of Texas), Equality Texas. And then for the performers, we will have Erika Casasola and Red Riojas, who's also an artist. They'll be healing, they'll be the curanderas there doing the healings. They’ll start at four, but the vendors start at two, and then performances start at six o'clock. Do you want to go over some of the performers, Chibbi?
Orduña: Sure. We’ve got Dr. Norma Cantu, Raíz Infinita, Dee Lalo Garcia, RatQingRios, Violet S’Arbleu. Anel and I will be hosting, and we just added a few more to the list.
Flores: Yes, we added Violeta Garza, also a poet who is also running the legal updates. It's gonna be awesome. And also, King Piquin, another drag king. So, they'll be welcoming us there on the stage.
Martinez: And this all starts at 2 and ends at …?
Flores: 8 p.m. Performances are at 6 p.m., but the fair is in the daytime.
Martinez: All day, come hydrated.
Orduña: Yes or come get hydrated (laughs). There'll be drink, there'll be spaces. The way we usually set up the center is like picnic table style. So hang out, play board games, have conversations, meet people. We are social creatures that need each other.
Martinez: Chibbi Orduña, Anel Flores, such a pleasure to talk with you today.
Orduña: Thanks for having us.
Flores: Thank you. Thank you so much.
