It has been three years since Philadelphia has seen an official LGBT Latino Pride event but, later this month, Raices Latin@ Pride will host “Orgullo” to celebrate the queer Latino community. The 11 founders of Raices, a collective, were motivated to relaunch a Latino Pride after the event that ran from 2008-10 was discontinued due to a lack of funding. “Philly Black Gay Pride started out really small and they hoped to provide some voice to that community, so when the Latino Gay Pride event didn’t happen due to lack of resources, we decided that we got tired of just talking about the idea and wanted to know how we can initiate something to provide us a voice and presence in the committee,” Raices member Louis Ortiz said. The new two-part event will kick off at 2 p.m. Sept. 28 with La Palabra at the Mascher Space Co-op, 155 Cecil B. Moore Ave., an art-focused event with a special emphasis on Latina women. “We wanted to recognize that there are these amazing queer Latina women in Philly who continue to do amazing work,” explained Raices member Nikki López. “It will be a great day to network and dialogue with other LGBT Latinos in the city.” The night event will take place from 9 p.m.-2 a.m. at Sean Thornton’s Public House, 2401 E. Allegheny Ave., in correlation with The V Lounge. The party will be hosted by The Goddess Isis and will feature Miss Gay Philadelphia Pride Cyannie Famouz and pop-singer JNathan. The cover will be $5 for the event. “We wanted to create a balance between art and celebration because we are a celebratory community and it is where folks can celebrate and dance together and have a great time,” Ortiz said. López said the event is supported by local organizations and nightclubs. “The event itself is being run by the collective of Raices Pride as of right now. GALAEI will provide a few workshops for the day event and The V Lounge, which is a weekly party that is run by one of our members, will host the night event. Other than that, it is a homegrown, grassroots project.” Ortiz said that aspect is integral. “I think it’s important that while different clubs have Latin night, these two events are organized by community members for community members,” he said. “It is a time for our community and for allies to get a real sense of what our culture is like around art and expression and around celebrating each other and providing a voice and visibility.” López said the event would highlight the “vibrant queer Latino community.” “A lot of our community members get into the larger LGBT movement and get whitewashed away and we forget that there are folks who have been out and who have been a part of the community for a long time.” For more information on “Orgullo,” visit http://raiceslatinopride.com.
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