(Haz clic aquí para leer la versión en español)
Welcome to the new edition of “LGBT en Español.” If you see, read, or hear something problematic, offensive, or defamatory in English or Spanish, let us know! We also want to know if you read a great article or see a good representation or segment on television. Write to us at incident@glaad.org.
Paparazzi Magazine Highlights Anti-Bullying and LGBT Wedding
The hosts of Mega TV’s entertainment news show Paparazzi Magazine, Orrieta de Luque, Eduardo Antonio and Javier Ceriani, dedicated segments on September 23 and 26 to the suicide death of 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer, a high school freshman from Buffalo, N.Y. Jamey’s death came after his having made a video for the It Gets Better project earlier this year. The show aired his video in its entirety with Spanish subtitles, in which Jamey talked about his coming out process and the bullying he faced at school. The show also captured celebrity responses like Ricky Martin’s response to the death, which he shared on Twitter and footage from a Lady Gaga concert where she spoke about the bullying youth like Jamey face. The show’s hosts discussed the importance of acceptance and stressed the need for anti-bullying legislation.
Paparazzi Magazine also interviewed the first married LGBT couple in Cuba live via Skype on October 3. Though incorrectly calling their ceremony a “gay wedding,” Ignacio Estrada, a HIV-positive gay man, and Wendy Iriepa, a transgender woman, tied the knot last August on Fidel Castro’s birthday as a statement to the former Cuban leader’s past anti-LGBT policies. The couple dodged baiting political questions from Javier Ceriani regarding the Cuban government and politics. They did mention that President Raul Castro’s daughter Mariela Castro, an LGBT advocate and director of the National Center for Sex Education, visited Iriepa. The hosts also asked Estrada to share his struggle of being HIV-positive in Cuba.
On a different episode of the same show, unfortunately, a derogatory term was used against Michelle Salas, the daughter of Mexican singer Luis Miguel. Salas has been in the spotlight recently due to speculation about her orientation. She left her boyfriend and has been photographed with Mexican alternative female singer Elán. This led to an inappropriate comment made by Paparazzi Magazine co-host Javier Ceriani that Salas, “likes to eat tortillas.” “Tortilla” can be interpreted as a slang term for female genitalia in Spanish. However, Ceriani’s co-hosts Orrieta de Luque and Eduardo Antonio criticized his remarks and stated that people shouldn’t speculate about Salas’ orientation or who she’s dating unless she decides to declare it. The rumors about Salas were also reported by TV Notas and Impre.com.
Gay Story Arc Unfolds in Telenovela
Two gay characters are being featured in the Telefutura re-airing of a 2008 Colombian telenovela titled, El Último Matrimonio Feliz (The Last Happy Marriage). Suspicions were raised in earlier episodes when Harold Peralta (José Luis Paniagua), an older hair salon owner, caught and embraced Alcides Niño (David Galindo), a much younger laborer, who was falling off a ladder. Recently the show dealt with the issue of coming out, when Alcides confided in Harold about his orientation. El Último Matrimonio Feliz airs on Telefutura Mondays through Friday at 9 p.m. ET/OT and 8 p.m. CT.
Caso Cerrado Fights Discrimination
Dr. Ana Maria Polo, host of prime-time court television show Caso Cerrado: Edición Estelar, slams her gavel against discrimination in two recent cases. On September 23 in the segment entitled “Boda Sin Travesti,”(Wedding Without Cross-Dresser) a man sues his fiancé because he doesn’t want her estranged gay and cross-dressing father to attend their wedding. The plaintiff claimed that if his fiancé’s father shows up to the wedding while cross-dressing, the wedding would be called off. However Dr. Polo sides with the defendant and her father, stating that a motion banning her father from the wedding based on his cross-dressing would be discrimination.
On September 26, Caso Cerrado aired a segment titled “Lesbianas Celebran 10 años,” (Lesbians Celebrate 10 years) where a couple sues restaurant owners for insulting and humiliating them at their 10th anniversary dinner in front of their families. The restaurant owners claimed the couple was being inappropriate and displaying too much affection. After reviewing video footage of the night and finding nothing inappropriate, Dr. Polo sided with the couple for a $50,000 settlement and a public apology from the restaurant owners.
LGBT Content Makes Headlines
Los Angeles based daily newspaper La Opinión ran two LGBT-themed articles recently. The first one, published on September 30, proclaimed Los Angeles to be the city with the most gay and lesbian couples in nation according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The article explains how factors like population size led Los Angeles to beat out other major cities like San Francisco and Chicago. The second article is a moving editorial piece by Peralta Delgado titled “Do You Know What Homophobic Bullying Is?” Delgado links to other stories of LGBT bullying in Latin America and urges adults to set an anti-bullying standard so that another generation of LGBT youth does not have to suffer.
Dr. Nancy Alvarez Perpetuates LGBT Myths Again
On O
ctober 4, GLAAD received an incident report about Telefutura’s show ¿Quíen Tiene La Razón? (Who Is Right?), where host Dr. Nancy Álvarez stated her disbelief of bisexuality and claimed that bisexual people are "emotionally suppressed homosexuals.” The topic of the show was of a lesbian who fell in love with her gay best friend. GLAAD is looking into this case; however this is not the first time Dr. Álvarez has expressed unfounded opinions about LGBT people on her show.
Latina Magazine Offers Lesbian Advice
The October 2011 issue of the English-language Latina Magazine featured lesbian content in their Love Guide, a relationship advice column that features advice from their readers to other readers. The excerpt was titled “When Girl Meets Girl,” and in the piece, a Cuban-American woman describes her journey with her partner of 11 years and the difficulties of coming out as well as the joys that have come with their family’s acceptance.
-Daniel Alvarenga, Brian Pacheco, and Monica Trasandes contributed to this report.
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Every day, GLAAD’s Spanish-Language Media team monitors news and entertainment content in film, television, print and online media. We often find interesting stories that we want to share with you, which is why we created LGBT en Español, a look at depictions of LGBT people and issues in Spanish-Language media.
In recent years, we’ve seen a growing number of positive representations of LGBT people and issues in Spanish-language media. This means millions of Latinos are getting to know LGBT people as their neighbors, friends, co-workers and family members.
As with English-language media, of course, there’s plenty of room for improvement, and anti-LGBT defamation, invisibility and the use of stereotypes are persistent challenges. We’ll do our best to keep you apprised of the most interesting media representations, but we also need your help to monitor the large amount of content on the air and radio waves. Please help us by writing to incident@glaad.org if you see, read or hear anything problematic, offensive or defamatory in English or in Spanish. Or if you see or read a great story, please also let us know about that.
