Identity Resists the Degradation of our Differences
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Identity Resists the Degradation of our Differences

Soundboard features an array of perspectives on pressing issues of our time by figures inside the arts and out—in one interface.

Guest edited by Miguel Gutierrez

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Pedro Pablo Lander is a Minneapolis–based Venezuelan artist. They recently founded Viva la Pepa, an organization encompassing their experimental performance work, their draglesque work, and their children and family programming, Drag Story Hour. Pedro is a resident artist with the Pillsbury House Theatre and a teaching artist with Upstream Arts. Read more.

Identity politics are central to my work. In an era of growing fascism, my identities are revolutionary. As a child, I grew up in a war, where women and femininity were the main target, where no real love existed, only manipulation and control. Ever since I can remember, I knew my existence transgressed the foundation of my right-wing Catholic, Venezuelan, Latinx upbringing. My behaviors, how I expressed my emotions, how I interacted with the world, ever since early childhood, have been policed and conditioned by the heteropatriarchal violence of my surroundings. Hyper-toxic masculinity was in the air I breathed at “home” from the moment I woke up until I fell asleep. School was no less violent. These Catholic children and the adults in command did everything they could to strip individuality and creativity to achieve ultimate uniformity. My gender identity and expression, and how others viewed those, marked my development as a young person. I view my survival from these conditions and my ability to exist so openly in the world today as a tremendous victory against the current macho power structures.

Maricón: the identity forced on me as a child. I was shoved into this “faggot” box through homophobia and transphobia. It served as a marginalizing term for sexually/gender diverse folks. There were no liberating terms for my identity, no other words, no concepts or people. The implications of this word were rather

When we don’t define and celebrate our identities, people will degrade our differences.
severe. It was a common understanding that maricones were at the bottom of Venezuelan society. I remember my father yelling angrily at my aunt when she organized an outdoor Zumba event at a local mall led by a gay man, saying how it would be a bad example for families and terrible for children to be exposed to “that.” It is also a typical saying in Venezuelan culture: “I’d rather my son be a drug addict than a faggot” or “I’d rather my daughter be a prostitute than a lesbian.” When we don’t define and celebrate our identities, people will degrade our differences.
When we don’t define and celebrate our identities, people will degrade our differences.

It wasn’t until coming to the US and discovering queer theory in college that my identity journey began. Later, I learned of Alok Vaid-Mennon, a renowned queer poet, and learned that there were terms for people like me, that there were successful trans artists in the world. I did not know this was possible. Shame had hidden these beautiful truths from me. Now, queerness is my act of revolution and self-love. Queer is political, it is a verb, an action, a way to live my life. I am a trans, non-binary, Latinx, Venezuelan, immigrant, hispano-hablante. My identities transgress existing systems of oppression and create community and visibility for queers and Latinx folks around me. These identities intertwine and make up the fabric of my being. Identity development has been central to my survival, finding and practicing pride in my identities. Looking at other queer artists and non-binary individuals in the last few years has allowed me to be myself more richly. Researching our queer ancestors and predecessors who also carved paths for me has allowed me to feel their courageous trailblazing histories and find connection. Now, I exist in nurturing communities filled with love and compassion built through queerness and our shared identities.

There were virtually zero positive models of representation for me growing up in Venezuela. Identifying who I am loudly will create new avenues for possibilities for the next generation of queers, a future of loving community. Right-wing movements are on the rise globally. Simultaneously, we are seeing a surge of identity-based movements and intersecting revolutions. Repressive systems force folks to create collaborations of survival to resist and demand justice. Our shared identities and celebration of those differences in the face of fascism will change the momentum of history.

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