Latina LesBi y Que Podcast

Claudia shares her coming out story as a Chicana growing up in Compton, California. She is a writer and a poet who shares 2 of her works and discusses how she was empowered to write by her professors, her love for her community and her friends. She shares about the importance of finding a chosen family who accepts you as well accepting and loving the family you were born into.    Chiquita Que quieres que te diga, Chiquita? Te meto un dedo y te doy con mi lengüita. Ay que sabrosita estas! Dame mas de tu jugo dame mas! Mira como te escurre tu lechita, entre tus labios menores y mayores bien rojos  y esponjaditos te los rosa la gota de tu leche resbalosa en rumbo a tu  ano mojando tus nalguitas hasta estallar.   Que quieres Chiquitita? Dime que quieres. Dime que me quieres Chiquita. Dime que mas quieres estoy para complacer coger, y coger hasta coser nuestras pieles una contra la otra con nuestra calentura se derriten dedos, nudillos, palma de mi mano, muñeca. Que mona eres, mi muñeca dime que quieres estar con migo que yo soy tu tesoro que vez mi corazón de oro que canta, canto por ti en voz alta. Voz suelta como un arcoíris doblándose por las nubes saludando a los cielos perfecto como el sol en la amanecer…nuevo día tengo. Es lo mejor que tengo contigo cada nuevo día que me despierto  a tu lado te siento Chiquita y el amor que te tengo me hace sentir chiquita por lo enorme que son nuestras posibilidades. Que quieres que te diga Chiquita, te amo.  

Ariana and Vero continue to talk about lesbian love, dating and relationships in this episode but this time it gets very personal! Ariana and Veroget an intuitive card reading to forecast love in 2019. Lena shares insightful guidance to Ariana and Vero about what the cards reveal about love for them. Ariana is going to find love 2019 and Vero needs to work on self-care and love. To get a reading from Lena, you can find her on instagram at @thealienmermaid. Links Podcast: www.latinalesbipodcast.com Podcast feed: https://latinalesbipodcast.libsyn.com/rss Latina Lesbian and Bi Amigas Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/East-Los-Angeles-Latina-Bisexual-Lesbian-Amigas-Meetup/ Donations: https://www.patreon.com/latinalesbipodcastmeetup   Instagram links Lena @thealienmermaid Ariana @arisadventures26 Vero @latinalesbipodcast

Ariana and Veronica talk about lesbian love, dating and relationships in this episode. They hold a candid conversation about Latina lesbian relationships and how their individual values and dreams show up in their relationships with other women. Ariana convinces Veronica that Valentine’s Day is the best holiday of the year because it is a day to celebrate love. Veronica reluctantly embraces the idea of Valentine’s Day because she feels love creeping up in her life. Listen to these two as they share very real and candid feelings about the way women love each other. These are important conversations that are rarely recorded but do happen between Latina women who love women.   Links   Podcast: www.latinalesbipodcast.com Podcast feed: https://latinalesbipodcast.libsyn.com/rss Latina Lesbian and Bi Amigas Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/East-Los-Angeles-Latina-Bisexual-Lesbian-Amigas-Meetup/ Donations: https://www.patreon.com/latinalesbipodcastmeetup    Instagram links @arisadventures26 @latinalesbipodcast

The first time I met ariana for coffee I was struck by her big smile and her warmth as well as her unique style. Ariana has a genuine and sweet way about her. That softness combined with her dapper boi style of dress is very attractive and interesting.  I have a lot of respect for mujeres, that are gender non-conforming in their dress and their sexuality. It takes a certain level of courage and confidence to live your truth and express it so creatively like Ariana does. She’s also very relatable. I watched her as she talked during her interview and I noticed that she was very thoughtful about her opinions and made these bright facial expressions when she talked. This woman is all heart and soul and it was my honor to interview her about some deeply personal experiences with recovery. It takes commitment and perseverance to live your truth by not conforming to gender role stereotypes, to become sober in a community deeply connected to alcohol and to maintain a positive mindset about your life.  She repeatedly expressed that it was her responsibility as well as her choice to stay sober. She owned that commitment with joy and not as a burden which tells me that it’s taken and will continue to take some deep work. She talks about this in her interview, that she’s done a lot of work on herself and that’s why she agreed to share her story. She sees sharing her story as part of the work that it will continue to take to stay sober and to help others into sobriety. I didn’t know Ariana before but It seems like Ariana is happier now that she’s sober. That happiness looks really beautiful on her and I wish her the best in all she does.   Thank you Ariana for sharing your story with our podcast. Make sure to follow her instagram account @arisadventures26. Statistics: I wanted to dedicate a couple of episodes to substance abuse and mental health in the Lesbian community because this is a relevant and timely topic for our community. I reviewed some recent statistics from a 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health titled Sexual Orientation and Estimates of Adult Substance Use and Mental Health. The Research suggests that sexual minorities which include people who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual are at greater risk for substance use and mental health issues compared with the heterosexual population. This national survey found that sexual minorities were more likely to use illicit drugs in the past year, to be current cigarette smokers, and to be current alcohol drinkers compared with their heterosexual peers.Specifically sexual minority females were more likely than heterosexual females to be current alcohol users, binge drinkers, and heavy drinkers. Among sexual minority females, 64 percent were current alcohol drinkers, 38 percent were binge drinkers, and 8 percent were heavy drinkers. Heterosexual females had lower rates at 51 percent for current alcohol use, 21.3 percent for binge alcohol use, and 4.4 percent for heavy alcohol use. Basically, Lesbian, bisexual and queer women are drinking more than heterosexual women.  I found 3 reasons in the literature that can explain this risk. Is Stress and lack of support systems: Members of the LGBT community face chronically higher levels of stress than heterosexuals. Many LGBTQ people have a long personal history of social prejudice having to negotiate culture, religion and sexuality. We face discrimination in laws and practices in employment, housing, relationship recognition and health care, as well as stigma and challenges with our family and friends. This kind of stress builds up and can lead to higher levels of anxiety, fear, isolation, depression, anger and mistrust of people that then can lead to self medication. History: Alchohol use has become deeply ingrained in LGBTQ society as a result of history. For many decades, the only places that LGBTQ individuals, could be open about their sexuality and feel safe was in gay bars. Drinking became one of the primary social interactions in our community. Alcohol abuse has therefore become normalized. That’s why it’s important to queer up space in different parts of the community as we do in our meetup group. We organize different kinds of social interactions outside of the WEHO bar scene. We hike, we read, we watch movies, we organize carne asadas in addition to the traditional WEHO bar hops. By queering up space in other communities we open up social interactions that don’t center around bars. Potential Discrimination in Addiction Treatment: In addition to limited specialized services, LGBT individuals may be reluctant to seek treatment or disclose their sexual orientation during treatment out of concern that treatment providers might be unwelcoming to them. Latinos in general are less likely to talk to doctors about their psychological stressors and only 10% actually seek mental health treatment. Stigma, intolerance and open discrimination are substantial barriers to substance use prevention and treatment in the LGBT community.   So The environment of discrimination, homophobia, ghettoization of LGBTQ culture and lack of treatment services increase our risk of substance abuse. Essentially, the environment is toxic and hurts our community in specific ways. And that’s why I want to talk more about this topic in future episodes. I included some links to resources in our show notes to help people find local AA groups near them. I also included the link to the 2015 National Survey that I cited.   Websites: Alcoholics Anonymous is an international fellowship of men and women who have had a drinking problem. It is nonprofessional, self-supporting, multiracial, apolitical, and available almost everywhere. There are no age or education requirements. Membership is open to anyone who wants to do something about his or her drinking problem. https://www.aa.org Sexual Orientation and Estimates of Adult Substance Use and Mental Health: https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-SexualOrientation-2015/NSDUH-SexualOrientation-2015/NSDUH-SexualOrientation-2015.htm Latina Lesbian & Bi Amigas Meetup https://www.meetup.com/East-Los-Angeles-Latina-Bisexual-Lesbian-Amigas-Meetup/events/255753789/ Latina LesBi y Que Podcast www.latinalesbipodcast.com  

Let me preface this episode by saying that this interview was recorded in Brooklyn, New York out of the podcast studio at The Wing in Dumbo. I spent a week in NYC during the summer working this podcast as a whole and had the opportunity to interview Ramona Ortega. Ramona Ortega is the Founder & CEO of My Money My Future, a mission-driven financial tech company that combines tailored content and simple to use tools to help Millennials, particularly young women and minorities, manage their money with confidence. She’s a serial entrepreneur with over a decade of leadership in the public and private sectors. Prior to leading My Money My Future, Ortega was a corporate securities attorney in New York. She also founded a boutique research consulting firm and a New York based international non-profit and She’s spent over a decade working on policy initiatives involving economic inequality and human rights. Ortega has a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. And more importantly, she’s my best friend of over 24 years since I met her at UCLA. I invited her to have some conversations about money and queer Latinas. Money is an issue that impacts latina lesbians in many different ways. I’ve heard many stories about how money impacts Lesbian relationships and it worries me for my amigas and my community. How do we protect our hearts and our bank accounts when we are looking for love? I have a dear friend who is a masculine of center adrogenous butch who isn’t dating right now because she tends to date femmes who expect her to pay for everything when they’re together. She says that she has no idea how she gets involved with women of this mindset but repeatedly finds herself in this dynamic. My other friend gave her exgirlfriend $2000 to pay for the first and last months rent on her new apartment after they broke up. She still loved her ex very much and was worried about her well-being so she took the money from her credit card to give to her. This ex took that money, moved back in with her ex room mates and bought her self a new scooter to ride around Long Beach. My friend was furious because the money was for a new apartment not a new scooter and she is still paying it back 2 years later while her ex enjoys a new scooter. I know another mujer who’s partner convinced her to sell their house in Riverside to move into the partner’s mother’s living room to save money for a bigger home. Four years later, they’re still staying in that living room and spent all their original home saving on various crisis, taking care of the mother in law and paying the rent. They have nothing left from the original home and are starting over. Why do we do this for women that we love or claim to love us? And how do we protect our hard earned money when we fall in love? It tends to happen to the more responsible or educated and professional of the pair because they tend to earn more money than their partners. In this episode we talk about money in relationships, the importance of having money conversations, money and the gender pay gap for Latinas, some tips for engaging in money dates to protect yourself and some community interventions around supporting latina women owned business and collaborating with each other. I always encourage the women in my meetup to support each other’s lesbian owned business and to hire from among us. This is the first of several conversations about money that we’re going to have so stay with us around this topic. 3 tips: So before we go, lets summarize 3 tips discussed in this episode. 1.) Take a financial inventory of your life so that you know where you stand and what you bring into a relationship 2) have money conversations with your family or money dates with your partner. Ask her about her credit score and what that means to her. 3) Support Latina Lesbian owned business and be open to collaboration. My mom always says, “el sol sale para todos” meaning that there’s enough for everyone and collaboration brings in more business than just working in a silo. Websites mentioned My Money My Future https://mymoneymyfuture.co Azlo www.azlo.com www.latinalesbipodcast.com Latina Lesbian & Bi Amigas Meetup https://www.meetup.com/East-Los-Angeles-Latina-Bisexual-Lesbian-Amigas-Meetup/events/255753789/  

Our guest is Patricia Zamorano and I just want to say that I had sooo much fun during this interview. You will hear us giggling a lot like little girls because I really identified with this mujer as we had so many common experiences. I love to hear from women that grew up in the same neighborhoods that I did. What struck me most about Patricia was her candor and her transparency. She was very genuine and authentic in her interactions and her stories. I found her to be a courageous woman and I was awed by her life story that demonstrated a woman that continued to rise from adversity from growing up in boyle heights, working in construction as a woman and then becoming a playwright in her 40s and she was a woman open to taking detours in her life lead her to her passions. I asked her what makes her different and I think that her ability to bounce back from adversity makes her not only a survivor but a winner. You have to be able to remain curious and alert to where your life is going to take you even when it doesn’t go as planned. Patricia has a big beautiful smile, bright eyes and a personality that fills the room. I love stories that deviate from a tragic lesbian narrative and shows how queer women survive and thrive in the face of adversity. I hope that her story inspires you to stay curious about where your life will lead you and how following your passions will fill your heart. Gracias Patricia. RESOURCES & LINKS 1. JOSEFINA LOPEZ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josefina_López 2. BROWN & OUT FEST https://www.facebook.com/brownandoutfest/ 3. CASA 0101 http://www.casa0101.org 4. ALISO VILLAGE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliso_Village 5. MATRIARCHY SHORT FILM https://www.facebook.com/matriarchyfilms/ 6. INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT FOR PATRICIA ZAMORANO @bpzamorano4931

I first heard about Chela Plush and her club The Plush Pony several years ago. I never got the chance to go to the plush pony but I was reminded of her again when the Los Angeles Times wrote an article about Chela, the Plush Pony and photographer Laura Aguilar in November of 2017. She was a trailblazer that opened one of the only latina lesbian bars in the 90s. I wanted to interview Chela because she’s an icon in the Chicana/Latina lesbian community with a history that spans over 30 years of creating a latina lesbian queer culture in LA. I went to her club Cancun Ole in East L.A. to invite her and she warmly agreed to be part of the Latina LesBi y Que podcast. She had one condition though, which was to be interviewed in Spanish. I loved this idea because it represents the diversity in age, language and immigration experience of Latina Queer women in L.A. This interview is conducted in Spanish and will not be translated to English because I don’t have the budget for that right now, so this is a shout out to anyone that would like to volunteer to transcribe and translate this recording, we need your help. You can email us atlatinabilesbian@gmail.com. Interviewing chela in Spanish was a real treat because we become teary eyed and choked up at times when we talk about love and friendship and working for your community. Conversations in Spanish somehow strike at a part of our hearts and minds that are formed by the love that we learned in Spanish. Most of us were raised in Spanish and we learned how to love in Spanish, so when we communicate in Spanish it takes us there, to that part of our soul that can only be reached con el amor y en espanol. It was my honor to hear and document her story.   Resources for further reference: Latina Lesbian & Bi Amigas Meetup Link https://www.meetup.com/East-Los-Angeles-Latina-Bisexual-Lesbian-Amigas-Meetup/ Stories of the Plush Pony: Artist Laura Aguilar's portraits capture a lost era at a working class lesbian bar http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/miranda/la-et-cam-plush-pony-laura-aguilar-vpam-20171102-htmlstory.html Chela Plush Social Media https://www.facebook.com/xxchelaplushxx Instagram @plushchela  

Today I’m talking with Cindy about her approach and mindset to Lesbian parenting. I met Cindy last year and we’ve become good friends since then. She’s a cute brunette with a beautiful smile. She is the mother of 2 adorable preschoolers that she co-parents with her ex-wife. Every time I hear Cindy’s life story I’m struck with a sense of admiration her resilience and courage. Her sense of humor, her growth mindset, her social network and her community are all resources that she pulls from to lovingly and realistically parent her twins. Cindy is resilient because she’s connected to people and communities who love her and her children. This isn’t a story of a lesbian struggling to co-parent her twins on her own; Cindy is more than that. She’s a beautifully complex woman, a mother, a lesbian, a professional and a latina who is thriving on her own terms in a beautiful life that she is constantly recreating.  This is one small part of Cindy’s full story of a rich and complex life that gives us some insight into how Lesbian parents thrive in spite of adversity and shows us how we can continue to protect lesbian families. This interview shows us that we can protect Lesbian families in 4 ways 1) creating safe communities that protect LGBT couples and their children so that they don’t experience discrimination 2) Help LATINX LGBT folks stay connected with their families because la cultura cura, we need family to feed us some sopita every now and then 3) Friends are important. Find a tribe of YOUR people that have your back and are there to support you and 4) Your mindset matters when you’re a parent. Humor and having a sense of hope will help your children adjust to change and stress AND This is, I think, is Cindy’s secret sauce.  Contact info: email: latinabilesbian@gmail.com website: www.latinalesbipodcast.com instagram: @latinalesbipodcast Twitter: LatLesBipodcast     Resources for further reference: Latina Lesbian & Bi Amigas Meetup Link https://www.meetup.com/East-Los-Angeles-Latina-Bisexual-Lesbian-Amigas-Meetup/ Latino Equity Alliance PFLAG http://www.latinoequalityalliance.org/our-work/ Research cited on Audio about LGBT Family Structures Lynch, J. M. (2000). Considerations of family structure and gender composition: The lesbian and gay stepfamily. Journal of Homosexuality, 40(2), 81-95. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/lesbian-parent

Maria Flawless of Flawless entertainment is our guest. I wanted to interview Maria because she produces some of the largest and most popular events for queer Latinas in Los Angeles. Most recently, Maria produces a once a month Latin Night at Executive Suites in Long Beach. See the full schedule on her website at Flawlessent.club. Maria is a business woman, a wife, a mother, a parent and a queer Latina. She decided to invest her time and money on the Lesbian community in Los Angles. Her story shows how the intersections of her identities inspired her to organize Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer Latinas life in L.A. She took queer Latinas offline out of the chat rooms to create a local L.A. culture that made it safe, fun and acceptable for queer Latinas to get together. Again, we see this theme that friendships between lesbian, bisexual and queer Latinas creates social change that builds a better world for all.   Contact info: email: latinabilesbian@gmail.com website: www.latinalesbipodcast.com Indiegogo: https://igg.me/at/latinalesbipodcast/x/18346450 instagram: @latinalesbipodcast Twitter: LatLesBipodcast   Resources for further reference: Latina Lesbian & Bi Amigas Meetup Link https://www.meetup.com/East-Los-Angeles-Latina-Bisexual-Lesbian-Amigas-Meetup/ Maria Flawless and Flawless Entertainment www.flawlessent.club West Hollywood Community Study that shows that ony 5% of the population is lesbian and census data shows that the population is 80% white. https://www.wehoville.com/2013/08/07/west-hollywood-community-study/ https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/westhollywoodcitycalifornia/PST045217

This is the second part of our first episode where Leticia Alvarez a fellow Queer Latina is interviewing me, your Host Veronica. We continue to talk about the importance of paying attention to which organizations, products and companies support the Latinx LGBT community, we continue to talk about the practice of Queering space through seemingly simple actions like meeting queer friends in your own communities and we end with some ideas about challenges and opportunities in losing physical spaces like lesbian bars but at the same time, going online has helped us spread out through Los Angeles to diversify the events and experiences available to women. Contact info: email: latinabilesbian@gmail.com website: www.latinalesbipodcast.com Indiegogo: https://igg.me/at/latinalesbipodcast/x/18346450 instagram: @latinalesbipodcast Twitter: LatLesBipodcast Resources for further reference: 1. https://www.meetup.com/East-Los-Angeles-Latina-Bisexual-Lesbian-Amigas-Meetup/ 2. https://www.hrc.org/resources/being-latino-a-lgbtq-an-introduction For data that I cite in this interview about Latinx LGBTQ 3. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X1730265X?_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_origin=gateway&_docanchor=&md5=b8429449ccfc9c30159a5f9aeaa92ffb&dgcid=raven_sd_via_email States that LGBT are 20 times more likely to be activists 4. https://www.nglcc.org/what-we-do For data that I cited about LGBT business 5. https://queeringthemap.com For more information about the concept of "Queering Space" and "Queering the map" as we lose physical space but cover more ground as we go online. 6. https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/redz-former History about the Red Head Bar in Boyle Heights. 7. Lesbianswhotech.org 8. lbwomen.org  

000000D1 00000042 000058B3 00001161 0007B5E0 001355B1 00007F50 000055E5 00033DCB 0012EC63 Leticia Alvarez interviews the host of this podcast Veronica Obregon about how the Latina Lesbian & Bi Amigas Meetup in Los Angeles led to the creation of the Latina LesBi y Que Podcast. Contact info: email: latinabilesbian@gmail.com website: www.latinalesbipodcast.com Indiegogo: https://igg.me/at/latinalesbipodcast/x/18346450 instagram: @latinalesbipodcast Twitter: LatLesBipodcast Resources for further reference: 1. https://www.meetup.com/East-Los-Angeles-Latina-Bisexual-Lesbian-Amigas-Meetup/ I talk about looking for women that look like me, sound like me and like some one like me. This is important because cultural connections and matter and empower. However this group is also inclusive of those who are not Latina but want to meet and commune with other latinas. We have Asian, African American, White and European women who have joined and participate in our meetups. Our community is welcoming to all queer women who want to build with us. 2. https://www.hrc.org/resources/being-latino-a-lgbtq-an-introduction For data that I cite in this interview about Latinx LGBTQ 3. https://www.lgbt.ucla.edu/Latinos For history and information about Latino LGBT resources at UCLA. 4. https://www.nglcc.org/what-we-do For data that I cited about LGBT business 5. https://queeringthemap.com For more information about the concept of "Queering Space" and "Queering the map" as we lose physical space but cover more ground as we go online. 6. I use LATINX and Latina/o interchangeably. Latinx has been popularized recently and I am trying to incorporate the use of this term into my vocabulary but I also love using the gendered LATINA identifier because I can only speak to this experience as a cisgendered Latina/Chicana. I will pass the "mic" to other expert voices in the future to discuss the latina transgender experience.

This is a short episode that gives a description and introduction to the Latina LesBi y Que Podcast. First fun episode will be ready in mid July 2018!