how it all began
queer latines
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tender humans
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queer latines ☆ tender humans ☆
Holis! Soy Alyssa (she/ella) and I’m the founder of Queer Latines. I’m the eldest daughter of a Colombian and Puerto Rican family from New York…y se nota.
In many spaces, my queerness and my culture couldn’t coexist. In hopes of finding that space, I went to a queer spanish practice meetup, hopeful to meet other people looking for queer community and a space to practice their heritage language. I was excited to finally meet other queer Latines...except I ended up being the only Latina there. That is, until an Ecuadorian showed up 3 hours late, truly running on tiempo latino. We quickly became friends.
I was surprised that in a city as queer as New York, there wasn’t a space where our identities could be untangled. So, in true eldest daughter fashion, I figured: if I can’t find the community I’m looking for, I might as well make it.
So, I made an instagram and went across the boroughs in NYC, hosted 40+ meetups, and met hundreds of amiguis who, like me, were craving connection. When we first began, our meetups were small — sometimes no one showed up at all.
After Pride 2024, everything changed. Our growth exploded. Queer Latines from across the country started asking, When are you coming to our city? And that’s when I realized — this wasn’t just something I needed. It was something we all needed.
That’s how Queer Latines was born.
We’re a growing community of queer Latines building meaningful connections, locally and virtually. This is a space where we show up fully — our identities, our stories, our culture — and become stronger together. A space where we support our neighbors, even if we don’t like them. Read that again.
Our vision is to build a national community where queer Latines can show up without having to choose between parts of ourselves, Because we deserve a space that is rooted in joy, culture, and solidarity. This is long overdue.
We’re not going anywhere. We’re just getting started.