Chicago's large and diverse Latino/a communities have often made it difficult to coalesce under one Latino organization. The differing needs of those born in the United States vs. immigrants, of those who speak Spanish and those who speak only English, and of those who are geographically and economically diverse have made it a challenge for organizers. As with the African-American community, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Latinos have worked within predominantly white gay groups, have worked within Latino communities as out gay people, and have created stand-alone Latin LGBT organizations.
In the 1980s, as AIDS was beginning to hit Chicago, some agencies started to deal with Latino AIDS issues, including Vida/Sida and Project Vida. Individual activists worked on Latina issues, both political and cultural, including Mona Noriega, Carmen Abrego, Diane Gomez, Lillian Angiano, and Amparo Jimenez, who started LLENA, Latinas Lesbianas en Nuestro Ambiente in the 1980s.
By the mid-1990s, two strong Latin organizations emerged that have played critical roles into the 2000s. Amigas Latinas, co-founded by Evette Cardona, Noriega, Mary Torres and Lydia Vega, has helped hundreds of women through support and networking over the years. It has sponsored community events and scholarships and has provided a safe place for those just coming out. The Association of Latino Men for Action has similarly provided an important safe space for Latino gay men.
The two groups, Amigas and ALMA, are a good example of companion organizations working together and with mainstream gay groups for the betterment of the entire Chicago gay community. Mona Noriega, who served for eight years on the Amigas steering committee, also was a key founding staff member of Lambda Legal's Midwest Regional Office in Chicago, making sure Lambda maintained connections with diverse communities. Javier Barajas, Julio Rodriguez, David Munar, Robert Castillo and many others have helped lead ALMA to its prominence in Chicago. ALMA and Amigas members played an important role when the national LLEG�" gay Latino conference was held in Chicago in October 1998.
An organization started in the 2000s is Orgullo en Acci�"n, a co-gender group working on Latino/a issues, co-founded by writer Carlos Mock, activists Nicole Perez and Nilsa Irizarry, and others. On the media front, En La Vida, a sister publication to BLACKlines and Outlines ( which is now Windy City Times ) , ran for 10 years, eventually merging with BLACKlines to become the online Identity magazine. The National Museum of Mexican Art hosts Radio Arte ( WRTE, 90.5 FM ) , which includes the first U.S. radio show hosted by and for Latino GLBT youth, Homofrecuencia, founded by Jorge Valdivia.
As with all of the Chicago lesbian, gay, bi and trans community, summarizing the work of hundreds of Latino activists is not possible in a few short paragraphs here. The Web site www.ChicagoGayHistory.org goes into greater detail, including interviews with key activists.
From Out and Proud in Chicago: An Overview of the City's Gay Community, edited by Tracy Baim, Surrey Books, 2008.
