My submission for a request for personal stories at PrideFest (Edited)

This year it was useless to resist submitting a story for PrideFest's History Tent. They invited the public to share personal stories of oppression, resilience, perseverance, pride, etc. So, I decided to submit mine.

Here is my submission with minor edits. I present you with the remastered edition to be enjoyed as originally intended. The edits are in several organization names, a couple overlooked service items, a missing shout-out to PFLAG (how could I!), and a post-submission discovery in my extended family.

Below you will also see the story as presented over at the History Tent. Special thanks to Vince at PrideFest for this amazing and wonderful surprise!

Enjoy!

###

I am a first generation Mexican-American. I am born and raised in a Catholic community service-oriented family in conservative Waukesha, WI.

I began coming out to myself in fourth grade. I fully realized my identity in sixth grade. I came out only to closest friends in middle and high school. Of course, I experienced some challenges and setbacks growing up. Star Trek plus my service-oriented upbringing contributed to my courage and confidence to be out and proud during my college years.

Once in college, I eventually took on a leadership role with the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Community (GLBC) at UW-Milwaukee in 1996. I received an incredible amount of support from a student affairs advisor at the university. This support further encouraged me to organize community events. I eventually would take on a lead role with the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center's steering committee. In addition, I would receive an incredible amount of support and encouragement from coworkers during my INROADS/Wisconsin college internship which later turned into my full-time job.

I would continue to play a fairly active role in the community for a few years to come. This included assuming a lead role in the host committee for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) Creating Change Conference when it came to Milwaukee. I volunteered with the Human Rights League (HRL) Milwaukee's Public Officials Reception Committee. I organized joint National Coming Out Day celebrations with HRL-Milwaukee and the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center. I supported poet and fellow community activist Carmen Alicia Murguia with the Juana G Vega Resource Center. Many of those experiences I would continue to remember fondly to this day.

Yes, I do remember challenges I faced growing up. My immediate family at first did not fully accept me when I came out. Members of the church we attended spoke poorly of gay people – at times directly to my mom. Thankfully, my family’s support changed over time. I am proud to say that Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) had a role with that!

I also remember certain family members in Mexico, including my beloved grandparents, who have accepted me since a very young age. I have always been used to being one of few openly queer people in my extended family. The icing on the cake? My youngest brother, Javier is openly gay. I have been with my partner, Steve, for almost 24 years. I have a lesbian second cousin in Mexico. My immediate family, as do many in my extended family, accepts each of us. Finally, I recently learned I have queer and pansexual second cousins twice removed in Texas!!

Today, when I can, I continue to volunteer for the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center. I am also a leader in my full-time employer’s LGBT+ employee resource group, WEC PROUD. Looking back, I could not be more proud of being a queer Mexican male from conservative Waukesha!

Recommended Viewing for Star Trek: Picard, inspired by startrek.com and trekranks.com (SPOILERS)

This post contains potential spoilers for Star Trek: Picard. If you haven't watched it yet and you're avoiding clues about the new show, then move along.. move along! You've been warned. ;)


Here's a list of episodes and movies in chronological order that I believe adds context to Star Trek: Picard. It is in a style inspired by Trek Ranks. I've summarized each item using five words and a hashtag.

The original inspiration was "Your Ultimate Star Trek: Picard Watch Guide" at startrek.com which is a great list in itself. Regardless, it felt incomplete. I began to think of a few items of my own as I prepared my watch list.

So, I decided to take a different approach to get ready for Star Trek: Picard and I started with a subset of the original list.

The guide appeared to focus on reestablishing the main players. Instead of getting a refresher of the characters, I wanted to get a sense of events leading up to what we see in the new show. I had some episodes in mind as I began to learn more about it and watched the trailers. Now that I've watched the first episode of this new window into the Trek universe, I decided to revise my list and post it online.

Enjoy!!


ENT: Minefield
First chronological Romulan appearance ever!
#ExplosiveAudioOnlyIntro

TOS: Balance of Terror
Peer inside a Romulan bridge.
#RomulanThemeSong

TOS: The Enterprise Incident
Starfleet steals Romulan cloaking device.
#AnotherSideOfStarfleet

TNG: Datalore
Data is not the first.
#LoreAttacks

TNG: The Measure of a Man
Picard helps define Data's rights.
#EqualRights4Synths

TNG: Q, Who
Picard, meet Borg. Thanks, Q!
#SnapSnapAndAway

TNG: The Defector
Picard's complex Romulan relationships begin.
#RomulanFakeNews

TNG: The Offspring
Yes, Data has a daughter.
#BelovedLal

TNG: Best Of Both Worlds
Picard's terrifying stranger to himself.
#LocutusOfBorg

TNG: Family
Borg aftermath at Chateau Picard.
#SiblingMudFight

TNG: Brothers
Sons of Soong, come home!
#BrothersForgive

TNG: The Drumhead
Captain Picard exemplifies Starfleet's values.
#DownWithSatie

TNG: Unification
Romulans, Vulcans, and wishful thinking.
#SpockOnRomulus

TNG: I, Borg
Picard wrestles with Borg individuality.
#MyNameIsHugh

TNG: The Inner Light
Picard lives a stranger's life.
#SiezeTheDay

TNG: Face Of The Enemy
Troi abducted. Romulan technology exposed!
#SpecialCargo

TNG: Descent
Borg separate and Hugh evolves.
#SonsOfSoong

TNG: Inheritance
Proud mom. Embarrassing Data stories.
#MoreSibs4Data

TNG: The Pegasus
Badmiral creates illegal cloaking device.
#CaptainPicardDay

VGR: Scorpion
Janeway negotiates with the Borg.
#WelcomeSeven

VGR: The Raven
The assimilation of Annika Hansen.
#NoThreeHourTour

TNG: All Good Things
Picard finally joins the game.
#NeverTooLate

Star Trek: Insurrection
Tonight, on Starfleet gone bad..
#NoUniformNoOrders

Star Trek: Nemesis
Talk about fighting with yourself!
#WelcomeB4

Star Trek (2009)
The entire Trek universe changes.
#Tears4PrimeRomulus
#Tears4KelvinVulcan

Short Treks: Children of Mars
Picard reacts to Mars attack.
#RogueSynthAttack

Honorable Mention:
TNG: The Neutral Zone
Out of hiding: they're back!
#AwkwardVintageHumans
I'm reluctantly including this in my list. This episode occurs between Datalore and The Measure Of A Man. It awkwardly reintroduces us to the Romulans. Personally, I didn't like the execution of this one. If you want fairly complete coverage of Human / Romulan engagements then see it. Otherwise, skip it and you won't really miss much.


I'll end this post with my original watch list:

• TOS: Balance of Terror
• TNG: Datalore
• TNG: The Measure of a Man
• TNG: The Defector
• TNG: Family
• TNG: I, Borg
• TNG: Descent
• TNG: Inheritance
• VGR: The Raven
• Star Trek: Insurrection
• Star Trek: Nemesis
• Star Trek (2009)

What Star Trek Means To Me

I saw a post on Facebook from the folks at Treksphere.com in early June, 2019. It asked for articles from LGBTQ+ fans of Star Trek.

Words immediately started pouring out of my mind, I started writing, and then they published my article. Coincidentally, and unknowingly, they gave me the news on my birthday that it would be published the following week.

Never thought I'd see the day where I'd write something which would appear on a Trek-related web site!

Here's my article as it appears on their web site.
LGBTQ+ In Trek – What Star Trek Means To Me

Article Preview: Star Trek means a lot to me. It has done much to shape the person I have become. Over the years, it has shown more and more people like me on screen. I think it’s fairly impossible to be more proud.

I don't respond well to hearing, "there is one true God and religion." I'm done with religion.

Recently, I decided that I'm done with religion. It is just not for me. What shoved the nail into proverbial coffin? A Facebook post from a family member stating that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee recently ordered a church not to perform a wedding to a same-sex couple after a guest from said wedding notified the archdiocese about it.

Some people just plain suck. I decided to post my unsolicited opinions on this matter on Facebook. The response there and elsewhere was, shall we say, illuminating.

That is not what this long overdue blog post is about.

Like I said: I'm done with religion.

Some might say I've been brainwashed. I'll take that as a compliment that I've kept an open mind throughout my life. I am free to have my own thoughts, beliefs, and opinions. So what has shaped them? My life experiences and also in order: my parents, my family, my Latino heritage, Star Trek, the congregation of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Waukesha, my education, the Catholic church itself, the LGBTQ community, and finally - the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. No one person has brainwashed me. No one person deserves to give themselves or to be given that much credit.

Much of what I listed above has stated that there is one true religion better than all others.

Many people in my life know that I have an insatiable curiosity. I have suddenly begun to wonder just how many religious leaders have existed throughout time. I've always strongly believed there is no one true religion and no one true deity.

I do not respond well to hearing there is one true anything.

Religion and its traditions are as diverse as humanity itself and there is no one way of thinking - no belief system - that is superior to all. Like humanity itself, it simply exists. That many complex organizations and belief systems have come and gone is.. fascinating (yes, I'm saying this with a raised Spock eyebrow). Talk about over-complicating the concept of, "don't be an a$$hole to other people."

Where did my curiosity take me? To this Wikipedia post. I found a number of ad-filled pages that included mentions of Martin Luther King Jr among other contemporaries. Surely they will invite a "my deity is better than yours" discussion. I'd prefer not to share any of them.

Enjoy!

List of Founders of Religious Traditions

Not Necessarily the Reason for the Season: Jesus, a Middle Eastern Refugee Who Mostly Didn't Fight Back

One of the great things about diversity is the wide variety of views I get to enjoy. It makes me think and gives me different perspectives to consider. It also reminds me to apply critical thinking to situations -- especially those involving holidays and religion.

Take, for example, the "fighting back" and reminders to us of the "reason for the season" from certain religious individuals when it comes to Christmas.

Never mind that they ignore the pagan roots of this sensationalized, commercialized holiday.

Never mind that they disregard people with beliefs different than their own and with different celebrations this time of year.

Never mind that some of these folks at times can be quite hateful, violent, closed-minded, materialistic, hypocritical individuals.

A friend on Facebook made a very eloquent statement about Jesus. The post and the discussion that followed reminded me of who he really was: a Middle Eastern man who preached peace and forgiveness, and became physical probably only a single time to fight back and protest commercialism in a sacred temple of his god.

She said:

Dear America,

As we get closer to Christmas, I would like to take this moment to remind you of something very important:

Jesus was a Middle Eastern man, who from infancy was sought to be murdered. Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt as refugees for his safety. Jesus was a refugee for part of his life, a Middle Eastern refugee. When he returned to his homeland, Jesus spent most of his life preaching tolerance and spreading hope and love to others. He was never armed and didn't preach violence. Yet, he was put to death for being different by a government and religious leaders that didn't like what he had to say even though he didn't threaten them. The government and religious leaders chose to feel threatened by him because they thought he was a threat to their way of life, a very luxurious way of life that only the upper echelon of their society could afford while many lived in poverty. This was a society where the government and religious leaders stole from the people but still hid behind their beliefs to justify their actions. Because Jesus was seen as a threat, they crucified him. But even in his final hours, Jesus forgave those who put him to death.

So while you give gifts in his name, say grace in his name, and enjoy time with your families in his name, remember who he was. Remember what he stood for. Remember that he was different and that every time you walk into a Christian church where his crucifix is depicted, remember he was a Middle Eastern man, who was a child refugee, who called God by a different name that was put to death over the ignorance and intolerance of others.

Maybe that will remind you to not persecute or judge others unfairly. Maybe that will remind you that there's more to Christmas than your Black Friday items. Maybe it will remind you that there are others out there being put to death for no wrong doing just because they are different. Maybe that will remind you that none of us are better than the other. We're all human, we all live and we all die. Maybe, just maybe that will change the way you view the world and make your heart a little more open and tolerant to all people.

Salam!

-Nadia

And then, when the topic changed slightly to how he mostly didn't fight back throughout his life, she later said:

Jesus being a Middle Eastern man had more to fear than anyone during that time, especially because he led a peaceful movement that disproved government and religious ideologies that you have to be rich to be favored by God. If anything, what he went through, being himself and standing true to his beliefs is something we all need to stop and examine before putting all of these young men to death. He didn't fight back when arrested and taken for judgement and sentenced during an unfair and swift trial. He didn't fight back when whipped at the pillar. He didn't fight back when he was taunted, beaten and tortured while carrying his cross. He didn't fight back when the nails were driven through his hands and his feet, and he didn't fight back when his cross was risen and he was left to hang there until death. No, instead he forgave. But he was seen as the bad guy all because he was different.

When we think of the individual some claim to be the reason for the season, let's remember who he really was and how he taught people to live.