CSUN On Point

Music is considered to be the universal language. People listen to music for many different reasons, but it makes an impact on most. Musicians have taken that influence into consideration, and many now use their music as a form of activism.

“It is a really powerful way to get that message across,” said Rudy Vasquez, CSUN alumnus and trumpet player for Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles. “….[We have the ability to] to inform people, because they are not only being informed, they feel what you feel.”

Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles is likely the very first openly LGTBQ mariachi in history. Its members are trying to use their music to break barriers in the music world. The group provides a safe haven for mariachi musicians identifying with the LGTBQ community who want to perform traditional Mexican regional music.

Traditionally mariachis are male dominated and considered to have a machismo identity, with male chauvinistic tendencies. Therefore a mariachi is not a place where someone of the LGTBQ community would feel comfortable or free be themselves.

“We needed a place where we were free from bullying, being made fun of, being talked about behind our backs, and [suffering] discrimination,” said Carlos Samaniego, director of Mariachi Arcoiris, “different type of things that all of us, unfortunately, have suffered.”

“The group also has members who are straight and considered allies,” Vasquez said. “It’s great to see they could play comfortably with us, and know that about us and they are not going to feel that their masculinity is being threatened or anything. It’s like helping out or being a part of any other mariachi. They go in there and play with no reservations.”

Females have been a part of the mariachi world since 1903, when the first documented female mariachi musician, Rosa Quirino, played in a mariachi band, but to some it is still uncommon to think of female mariachis. The first all-female group was the Las Adelitas formed in 1948, which was directed by a male. Today only about thirty all-female mariachi perform in the United States.

Mariachi Arcoiris welcomes women, and is proud to have the first transgender female in mariachi history, Natalia Melendez, as their violinist.

“There were a lot of obstacles I had to go through to be comfortable,” Melendez said. “I never was expecting to be in a leadership role to the world, and I’ve been blessed with that; I’ve been given this kind of responsibility through everything that I’ve done.”

In 2015, gay marriage became legal throughout the United States, demonstrating that times are changing for the LGTBQ community.

“Your generation is more flexible, adaptable and open, and not as concerned about rigid boundaries about sexuality and gender,” CSUN Communication Studies Professor Kathryn Sorrells said. “I think those kind of [musical] performances are shifting [perceptions] for people in ways that I think are really helpful. Not everywhere, not all the time, but certain spaces are more open.”

Despite these advances ,the LGTBQ community is uncertain of its future under the Trump administration, and continues to experience discrimination such as harassment, misgendered pronouns, other forms of hate speech, and exclusion from basic public accommodations and many other areas in society.

But with artists and groups such as Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles, who use music as a tool to advocate for a change, many say there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

“Music and protest are going to continue to come together in really powerful and creative ways in the next decade,” Sorrells said.

Moderator: Julie Nesbitt

Producers: Amber Partida and Abril Preciado

Anchor: Shelby Charlene

Social Media Editors: Malcolm Finney and Curtis Poindexter

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“’Coming out’ is often characterized as an invariant, universal progression from initial unawareness and confusion to eventual identity, pride and synthesis,” according to the LGBT Casebook.

Teens who identify as lesbian, gay or bi-sexual are four times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual peers according to a 2011 survey done by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“One of the factors to consider is the level of rejection that one may face from their family, faith, etc,” said CSUN Professor of Social Work, Mark Abelson.

With coming out of the closet being such a traumatic experience for many, it can cause people to stay in their comfort zone and avoid revealing who they really are.

“When I came out at sixteen as transgender, I was in foster care,” Lifeworks Mentoring Coordinator Nia Clark said. “When I told my adoptive mother that I wanted to live full time as a woman, I was taken to court and she rescinded guardianship of me.”

With pop-culture somewhat desensitizing kids, it could, in a way, make things more difficult for those who really are going through a struggle to come out.

“Young people don’t know what they are saying,” said CSUN Pride Center Coordinator Sarina Loeb. “Seeing things like that in music and pop-culture I think also it has influence.”

“When you are not facing a certain type of oppression it’s easier for you to overlook when you are oppressing someone else,” Clark said. “So when you hear things like ‘that’s so gay’ think of the subtext of that. That ‘that’s so gay’ are you equating that word with stupid, unintelligent, boring and if you were in front of someone who was gay would you really describe them as stupid or boring or unintelligent or dumb.”

With religion playing a great role in any people’s lives and religious institutions having such anti-LGBT tendencies, it can be something difficult to overcome.

“I don’t normally try to change someone’s belief, but everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect,” Loeb said.

For those who are coming out, however, resources are available to help. Lifeworks, at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, offers many mentoring programs to help those in the LGBT community throughout the Los Angeles area. Experts say people considering whether or not to come out need to evaluate their whole situation before coming out.

“What will your reaction be at home? Will your parents be supportive or not? And ask ‘what if they are not supportive?’ What could happen to you?” Abelson said.

“You have the inalienable right to be yourself,” Clark said, “and in that you have a responsibility to yourself to accept you wherever you are at, and that’s all that’s important. Everyone else, that’s a lot of noise.”

Moderator: Rosanna Siracusa

Producer: AJ Romero

Anchor: Kelly Hernandez

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Trans Awareness Week at CSUN begins on November 13 and continues through November 20. The goal is to inform and educate the community, because the word transgender and the group of people it represents are often misunderstood.

“Trans could be an umbrella term for anybody whose sex assigned at birth doesn’t match the gender identity of how they see themselves,” said Sarina Loeb, CSUN’s Pride Center coordinator.

Although there are various identities that fall under the term, some trans people are most comfortable not labeling themselves at all.

“When we’re thinking of gender we usually think of men or women, and I do not identify as either of those,” said Orion Block, Trans Awareness Week coordinator. “I’m not a big label person so I feel that I’m transcending gender by not buying into any of that.”

Explaining the different transgender sub groups, such as non-binary and gender-queer, is just one of the challenges the transgender community faces. How the community’s members want the world to identify them, and what pronouns to use when referring to them, are aspects of trans culture that are also misunderstood. While some trans individuals use pronouns such as “they” and “them” to refer to themselves in their daily lives, others use more complex pronouns.

“I use something a little different,” Block said. “I use ‘Zee’, which is actually Hebrew for referring to a non-binary person, and ‘Hir’, which is a combination of his and hers. There is ‘they’, and ‘them’, but some people just prefer to be called by their own names.”

Although it is important to have others identify a trans person appropriately, Loeb said it’s more important how someone self-identifies.

“It started getting easier in college when I found out more about the trans community,” said Mar Pascual, CSUN student and transgender person. “Self-identifying was really stressed by so many people, and I thought that was really incredible: the ability to decide who you want to be instead of being forced in boxes that have been spelled out by so many people. That freedom was really great for me.”

Although the LGBTQ community has been unrepresented or misrepresented in the media, recent portrayals of the transgender community have been fairer. The transgender community has received increased exposure recently; most notably, “Orange is the New Black” has starred transgender actress Laverne Cox.

“There have been representations of trans people,” Pascual said, “but they’ve been mostly demeaning representations. They’ve mocked the community or used really derogatory terms that perpetuate the idea that trans folks are unworthy of being respected, and it’s ultimately really harmful to the community. It’s really refreshing to see shows like ‘Orange is the New Black’ and ‘Transparent’ kind of give a more accurate portrayal of trans people.”

Moderator: Andrea Bautista

Producer: Robert Zamora

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