Compañeros: Latino Activists in the Face of AIDS

Latinos in Chicago and the Midwest

by Jesus Ramirez-Valles

Telling the affecting stories of eighty gay, bisexual, and transgender (GBT) Latino activists and volunteers living in Chicago and San Francisco, Compañeros: Latino Activists in the Face of AIDS closely details how these individuals have been touched or transformed by the AIDS epidemic. Weaving together activists' responses to oppression and stigma, their encounters with AIDS, and their experiences as GBTs and Latinos in North America and Latin America, Jesus Ramirez-Valles explores the intersection of civic involvement with ethnic and sexual identity. Even as activists battle multiple sources of oppression, they are able to restore their sense of family connection and self-esteem through the creation of an alternative space in which community members find value in their relationships with one another. In demonstrating the transformative effects of a nurturing community environment for GBT Latinos affected by the AIDS epidemic, Ramirez-Valles illustrates that members find support in one another, as compañeros, in their struggles with homophobia, gender discrimination, racism, poverty, and forced migration.

Genres: Nonfiction, LGBT

179 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2011

Reviews

[jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ramirez-Valles argues for the bonds formed by the shared experience of activism based around identity, a thesis based on his own experience with organizations and fellow volunteers working to support people living with AIDS and HIV. Using long semi-structured interviews with fellow Latino GBT volunteers from both the United States and Latin America, the author finds numerous similarities in his colleagues and friends' stories of formative experiences that shaped not only their GBT identities, but also their class and racial identities. The text is an incredibly readable and believable volume despite its sometimes upsetting subject matter, and it is highly recommended.