All tagged Spain

23 Stories to End 2023

Dean Strauss

2023 has been an incredibly difficult year, but as we've written before, there are bright spots that are worth recognizing. As we push for safety, recognition, and support for our community in 2024, we can use this year's victories to guide us. We'd love to hear your highlights for the year too!

Sonia Rescalvo Zafra

Harper-Hugo Darling

Transgender Day of Remembrance is an impossible day no matter how it is observed. In a world with increasing visibility for transgender people, there is increasing danger. There are celebrities spending every cent of their social currency attacking the most marginalized amongst us and politicians scrambling to unravel every inch of progress that has been made. Most pressingly, the violence has not stopped. It has not stopped since the first vigil was held in Rita Hester’s honour. Not since Chanelle Picket’s murder. This year as the names are read, there will be too many to remember fully.

Eleno de Céspedes

Harper-Hugo Darling

Eleno de Céspedes was born into slavery in Grenada in 1545. Due to his mother being a slave, he was not given a name at birth and a brand was burned onto his face when he was still young. While he never had a relationship with his father, who most likely was the slave owner, he was able to stay with his mother for their time in slavery. It was after the death of one of their slave owners that Eleno was released from slavery and given the name of the dead slave owner.

Claudio Bravo

Harper-Hugo Darling
Happy Endings

Artists are often deeply rooted in one country. For Amrita Sher-Gil it was India. David Paynter had Sri Lanka. Claudio Bravo had not one country, but many. Moving from his native Chile, he travelled through America, Morocco, Spain, and the Philippines without seeming too attached to any one country. A relatively successful painter, he was allowed more freedom to explore the world than many of his contemporaries and gave much more attention to his love of painting than any nationalistic inclination.

Elisa and Marcela: The First Same-Sex Marriage in Spain

Harriette Chan

Netflix’s new Spanish history film, Elisa y Marcela, features a fascinating historical queer couple. The movie, based on real events, details how two Spanish teachers became known as the first same-sex couple to be married in Spain. The movie itself attempted to portray a heart wrenching and beautiful love story, but one has to take it upon themselves to see if the “real events” the movie was based on telling the same story.

Elmyr de Hory

Harper-Hugo Darling

This article contains mentions of the Holocaust and suicide.

When discussing queer people and the law, it isn't rare for the two to conflict. Not only because of the many queer identities that are or have been illegal throughout the world, but also because once you question the morality of one law, it is not a large leap to wonder at the morality of others. As we look at the life of one of the most famous art forgers in the world, that conflict becomes particularly relevant.

Federico Garcia Lorca

Federico Garcia Lorca

Grace Wordsworth

This week we’ll be looking at the life, poetry, and activism of Federico García Lorca. While his romances rarely ended well, Lorca made waves by being unapologetically queer in the face of a vindictive, bigoted, and aggressive Spanish government.

Luisa Isabel Álvarez de Toledo

Luisa Isabel Álvarez de Toledo

Harper-Hugo Darling

While a rebellious aristocrat is not a rare narrative, one who was jailed and exiled for her political efforts, and married her female secretary and partner of twenty years on her deathbed, is less commonplace. The phenomenon of a privileged person using their privilege for the good of others isn't unheard of, Luisa Isabel Álvarez de Toledo, 21st Duchess of Medina Sidonia approached it with a fervent strength that is rare.

Jane and Paul Bowles

Jane and Paul Bowles

Harper-Hugo Darling

While this is not the first time, we have discussed more than one person in an article, as we consider this couple we must realize the difference between them and the other couples we've discussed. Jane and Paul Bowles were married in 1938 and stayed together until the day Jane died, and both of them were queer. In this queer couple, we find a deep platonic love that sustained both of these artists throughout their tumultuous lives.