LOS ANGELES — Flipping through the pages of a DC Comics book, high school senior Xitlali Gonzalez sees more than just superheroes.
“They’re navigating their kind of experience with being queer and also being a really cool superhero,” she said.
Gonzalez, who identifies as queer, said seeing more LGBTQ+ representation in arts and media is empowering, especially for those struggling with their identity. She counts herself lucky finding acceptance in her immediate family, especially from her mother.
“I always had support, like I never felt the need to be like, ‘Oh my gosh, I should hide this,’” Gonzalez said. “We don’t treat it as a big deal.”
Gonzalez admits she has struggled to gain acceptance from an older family member, her maternal grandmother, who is in her late 70s and more conservative.
But her mother, Monica Perez, hopes each successive generation becomes more open.
“It’s a different generation, so I was able to grow up in a different time, where I think, hopefully things will get easier for kids to come (out),” Perez said. “Like you’re hoping that it becomes just so open that there won’t be conversations about coming out, right? It will just be.”
One resource that’s provided a safe, inclusive space for Gonzalez is a Boyle Heights community support group for LGBTQ+ youth hosted by the nonprofit Latino Equity Alliance. The nonprofit offers free transportation to attendees through a partnership with Uber and encourages parents to come along.
Jasine Cumplido, program supervisor with LEA, said the support group encourages youth and their parents to share stories with one another and offer advice.
“But we also like to have an educational component and inform the community, the parents, about what it means to be queer and how we can help support our kids,” she said.
Cumplido said it’s support that can be lifesaving. According to a survey from the Trevor Project, rates of suicide attempts are disproportionately higher for queer youth of color at 16% for Latinx youth and 19% for Black youth. That’s compared to their white counterparts at 12%.
The survey also found LGBTQ youth who live in an accepting community accepting reported significantly lower rates of attempting suicide than those who do not. Cumplido pointed out that statistics like this spotlight the importance of providing safe spaces.
“A big part of our values is just reminding our community that even existing is revolutionary in today’s times,” she said.
Perez said the group has helped her daughter not only thrive but also become a leader, convincing friends in the LGBTQ+ community to join.
For Gonzalez, she’s grateful for the space where she can just be herself.
“I just look forward to having somewhere to hang out with my friends,” she said.
