Label Me Latina/o, Special Issue, Summer 2026 Vol. 16.2
Queer Indigenous and Latinx Histories of Migration, Love, and Meanings of Home
Introduction to Queer Indigenous and Latinx Histories of Migration, Love, and Meanings of Home
by Mario A. Gómez Zamora
Mario A. Gómez Zamora was born and raised in Tangancícuaro, Michoacán, México, the grandchild of Alicia Zepeda Madrigal, Serafin Zamora Ríos, Guadalupe Estrada Cacari, and Enrique Gómez Montelongo, and the son of Lilia and Miguel, immigrants in the Central Valley, California. Mario is a poet, dancer, teacher, and transnational scholar of queerness, gender and sexuality, migration, memory, Latinx and Latin American studies, dance studies, performance studies, and P’urhépecha studies. He is a first-generation college graduate and an award-winning scholar of Native American and Indigenous Studies and a recipient of multiple prestigious fellowships, including the Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship, the Crossing Latinidades Predoctoral Fellowship, and the UC Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Anthropology Department at UCLA. Currently, Mario is a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities Center and Guest Faculty in the Department of Theater and Performance Studies at Stanford University. His research and poetry have been published in multiple collections in P’urhépecha, Spanish, and English, including the Genealogy journal, Wicazo Sa Review, Pasados: Recovering Histories, Imagining Latinidad, American Quarterly (forthcoming), Los Angeles Review of Books, and edited volumes by the Universidad Michoacana and the Centro Latinoamericano de Economía Humana Uruguay, the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, and Oxford University Press (forthcoming). Mario is the editor of the oral history and multilingual book Entre el Recuerdo y la Memoria: Historias de Patamban, which was made with the collaboration of his middle school students from Patamban, Aranza, and Ocumicho, Michoacán, and was translated into P’urhépecha and English.
Mario A. Gómez Zamora’s first book project, “Queer P’urhépecha Histories & Performances Beyond Borders,” explores the cultural tensions that queer Indigenous P’urhépechas face when participating in their communities’ traditions. Through the lens of queer theory, dance studies, and performance studies, Mario analyzes how Indigenous communities reproduce colonial violence against queer individuals in the present, and how queer P’urhépechas work toward new futures through danzas and performances in P’urhépecha fiestas and ceremonies while they claim their indigeneity as part of the collective in Michoacán and among those P’urhépechas who migrated to the Pacific Coast and Midwest of the United States. To trace the stories of marginalized Indigenous people in both their homelands and in sites of migration, Mario combines Indigenous methodologies, such as talking-while-walking through the landscape, with oral histories, semi-structured interviews, participant observations, and archival research. This is a project of hope, life, and resistance!
Critical:
Claiming Pride Against Rainbow Capitalism and Colonial Power
by Juan Carlos Cardenas
Juan Carlos Cardenas was born in Yakima, Washington, and raised in Modesto, California. The son of Mexican immigrant parents, his family’s experiences have deeply shaped his critical perspective on the United States and its treatment towards marginalized populations. He is currently pursuing a double major in Legal Studies and Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. As a scholar, his research interests include Latinx voting trends, rainbow capitalism, U.S.–Mexico relations, and immigrant rights. He is committed to advancing social justice through legal advocacy and plans to become an immigration attorney dedicated to defending and uplifting immigrant communities.
Autohistoria:
What is “home” for children of immigrants?
by Shelia Alarcon
Sheila Alarcon was raised in Oakland, California. She is a first-generation college graduate from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a passion for understanding and addressing socioeconomic and health disparities within marginalized communities and their impact on both physical and behavioral health. Her major in Human Biology and minor in Spanish Studies have solidified her aspirations; however, being the only daughter of two Ecuadorian immigrants has fueled her eagerness to learn more about her heritage and uncover a new layer of herself, which is her identity.
Navigating the Betweenness: A First-Generation Mexican American Soul, Unfolding the Tale
by Itzel Arias
Itzel Arias is a proud Mexican American writer, student, and youth advocate born and raised in California’s Salinas Valley. She is the daughter of immigrants from Michoacán, and her work is deeply rooted in themes of belonging, memory, and intergenerational resilience. A former community college student and UC Santa Cruz graduate, Fatima is currently pursuing an Ed.S. in School Psychology at California State University, Monterey Bay. Her writing and advocacy are informed by her lived experiences as a first-generation college student, a daughter of farmworkers, and a bilingual Latina navigating institutions not built with her in mind. Beyond academia, Fatima works with local youth programs, facilitates healing-centered workshops, and believes deeply in the power of storytelling as resistance. Her creative and academic work centers the voices of marginalized communities, especially Latine, immigrant-origin, and LGBTQ+ youth.
Reclaiming my history as a Queer Latina
by Anette Bautista-Gramajo
Anette Bautista-Gramajo was born and raised in San Rafael, California. She is both Mexican and Guatemalan. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Latin America and Latino Studies from UC Santa Cruz. Currently, she works at a nonprofit organization where she supports students academically and helps prepare them for college. She plans to pursue her master’s degree in education and eventually become a math teacher in the future. Having been inspired by the impact her mentors made in her life, she aspires to do the same for others. In her free time, she enjoys going on walks, listening to music, and learning new things that pique her interest. She has recently reconnected with writing and enjoys exploring her creativity through it.
P’urhépecha Practices from Patamban in California and my Reflections About My Queer P’urhépecha Ancestors
by Lesly Lagunas
Lesly Lagunas is a P’urhépecha scholar and writer born and raised in Long Beach, California. She is the daughter of Mexican immigrants. Currently, she is living in Santa Cruz, California, and she is in the process of earning her bachelor’s degree in Latin and Latino American Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is one of the student scholars collaborating with Mario Gómez Zamora in the Queer Indigenous and Latinx Project.
Creative:
Creative Non-Fiction
Shedding and Becoming Through Nauhcampa
by sol cardenas moreno
sol cardenas moreno is a creator with an inner compass pointed towards the birthing of thought, contemporary poetry, and cultural analysis. Their writing is rooted in knowledge that is lived, inherited, and stored in bodies— as a disabled, anti-imperialist, reconnecting Nahua lesbian committed to the indemnification of their Afrodescendencia. Their work looks to nurture the condemned within by exiling imposed dominion, blending politicized personal truth with the power of feeling deeply. Today, they practice flow as a full-spectrum birthworker, a lifelong student of traditional Mexican herbalism, and traditional Mexican bodywork. sol is currently located in Tovaangar/Tongva-Kizh land, where they continue to learn about the transformative power of love and community care work. sol was born on February 18, 2000; the day before a blue moon.
Poetry
Maribi (my gender)
by Nenu Cruz-Ramírez
Nenu Cruz-Ramírez was born and raised in Tenochtitlan, now known as México City, and currently lives in Santa Cruz, California. They graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a double major in Education, Democracy & Justice and Latin American and Latinx Studies. A creative spirit, cultural bearer, and lifelong learner, Nenu is also a land-based educator committed to community-rooted teaching. They run Rayitos de Sol, an outdoor school program that connects children of color with nature in urban environments
Collage and Poetry
Mamá, La Revolución es Amor!
by Vanessa Duarte
Vanessa Duarte’s work focuses on the navigation of first- and second-generation POC queer experiences. Growing up in a small town, a catholic, and somewhat conservative family, it made her question how others who came from a similar background learned to break the barriers or hide a part of themselves from their families. Vanessa graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a bachelor’s in Sociology and Latin American and Latino studies in 2025. She is the proud daughter of Ines, who migrated by herself while pregnant from Uruapan, Michoacan, to the U.S., and her late father, Heriberto, who taught her how to appreciate the beauty of life, despite the difficulties and struggles that come with it.
