LGBT and Greeks

by Eric Cortes

The year is 2010 and for some reason the world still (sometimes) thinks backwards. “Tolerance” is something that shouldn’t be tolerated right? The Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender (LGBT) community is a topic most people don’t really like to discuss. Why? Because to be honest it’s still taboo. We are so enriched into what is the norm; we forget being LGBT is also a norm. After the recent suicide at Rutgers – New Brunswick, more and more people are paying attention to the LGBT community. However, sometimes we have to look at the role of Latinos in the LGBT community.

Chasing the bug

by Nicolle Morales Kern

HIV/ AIDS is a disease that is as much a part of our society as diabetes. It is a disease that people either live with the risk of getting (depending on their behavior, of course) or with the fact that they have it. Over the past 20 years it has developed into a disease that you can live with by taking a cocktail of antiretroviral medications designed to slow – not cure – the progression of HIV-related disease.

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in our society has led to an attitude among a small portion of men and women that it is better to get the inevitable over with. Known as bug chasers, they actively seek out HIV positive partners in the hopes of getting infected themselves. Conversely, people who seek to share the “gift” with others are called gift givers. In order to attract a person with the opposite status, people tattoo themselves with HIV- or HIV+ or they may go to a bare backing party.

Sad Day for Soccer Fans: Pulpo Paul Passes

We regret to inform you that the psychic octopus, Pulpo Paul, has passed away today in his sleep.

Paul is best known for his prediction of Spain’s victory over the Netherlands in the World Cup this year.

RIP Pulpo Paul.

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To find out more information on Pulpo Paul, click here.

Domestic goddess or hopeless homemaker? An internal struggle

by Adriana Villavicencio

I laughed to myself as I read fellow blogger Libby’s piece last week on being a Latina who doesn’t cook. Reader’s comments ranged from expert rice cookers who sang the praises of the caldero to readers who seemed more likely to order a pizza and watch the game with the guys. I laughed even more because I could relate to both extremes.

My mom did everything in the house. She cooked multiple meals a day, ironed my dad’s clothes, washed the floors with trapos, and did laundry for a family of six. This is what my mom did, what her mother did, what my aunts in Ecuador did. And if you listen to certain men (and women) talk about it, this is what Latinas should be doing. (Preferably while wearing a smile and 4-inch heels.)

The problem with “Asian”

by Charlotte Melanie

Why were so many people upset last week when tea-party backed, Nevada Senate hopeful, Sharron Angle, told a group of Latino high school students “I don‘t know that all of you are Latino. Some of you look a little more Asian to me. I don‘t know that.”

Frankly, some Latinos do look Asian; many are Asian. Peru and Panama have a long history of Asian immigrants and, if we take it way back, any one of us who claims indigenous ancestry is Asian by way of the Bering Strait. I don’t “look” Latina; red hair and freckles are more typical of the Scottish Isle than the the Puerto Rican one. My Salvadoran friend gets addressed in Arabic on a regular basis.  My Mexican coworker is confused for a  “paisano” when walking through Italian neighborhoods. And through this blog we have debated our African heritage.  We know that there is no single Latino race. We are an ethnicity unified by shared culture and history, which sometimes includes race but not exclusively. So what’s the big deal about Sharon Angle’s comment?