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Trans Latinas: You're not your mother's little boy anymore
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Ramírez, Rosa María Páramo |
| Copyright Year | 2012 |
| Abstract | 'You're not your mother's little boy anymore' By Rosa Ramirez The Church One rainy Sunday in November, Lucia Perez walked across the parking lot of the First Baptist Church in Concord. She closed her rainbow umbrella, and shook the hand of the man who greeted her in the house of God. “Que Dios la bendiga, hermana.” May God bless you, sister. She had arrived with two people. One was her spouse of 11 years. The other was a family friend. The friend had dropped off Lucia's children to bible classes. Lucia took a seat near the exit. Her spouse didn't make an effort to talk or sit next to Lucia, which only mildly bothered her. Lucia's eyes were fixed on the gospel singers. A large sweaty man led the congregation in the hymns. Lucia sang, following from the lyrics on a giant screen. Throughout the service, people shouted amen, Gloria a Dios, and bendito sea su nombre. Blessed be his name. On this Sunday, Latino men, women, teens and older couples filled every bench, bibles in hand. One woman, who looked to be 60, told the church, “Hoy cumplo quince anos de haber nacido de nuevo.” Today is the 15th anniversary since I was born again. This acknowledgement of spiritual rebirth, a standard practice in Baptist ceremony, prompted a crescendo of claps, more amens and songs. Some raised their palms toward the sky, their heads tipped back. They had calm expressions. Sitting next to Lucia was the family friend, Victor Camacho. A 10-inch bible lay between them. The bible, which cost Lucia $24.95 plus tax more than two decades ago, has been Lucia's constant companion—the only investment she's ever made, she likes to say. At Victor's opposite sat Yadira Perez. She is the woman Lucia Perez married in 2000, in Guadalajara, Mexico—nearly a decade before Lucia announced she was transgender, and began the process of transitioning from male to female. Lucia is at the start of the physical transformation from a man to a woman through hormone therapy. People at the church don't know about her gender transition, and Yadira wants to keep it that way. Yadira is afraid that church members won't understand, let alone accept, her unconventional family |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://cloudfront.escholarship.org/dist/prd/content/qt6xf10555/qt6xf10555.pdf?t=lrf96m |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
