Indigenizing Love!
 We recently published a groundbreaking issue of the Cultural Survival Quarterly magazine, celebrating sexual and gender diversity of Indigenous Peoples.
I am inspired by the courage of LGBTQIA+ activists who live their truth openly, facing criticism, threats, abuse, and sometimes even death as they break barriers and encourage others to accept and welcome all people and their multiple identities. This strength to speak often comes from traditional knowledge and reconnection to pre-Christian Indigenous cultures, many of which accept and celebrate sexual and gender diversity.
For too long, LGBTQIA+ people have been marginalized, silenced, and even killed for whom they love and how they identify. This month we remember Óscar Cazorla (Zapotec), an advocate for Muxe and LGBTQIA+ rights, who was murdered in his home in Oaxaca, Mexico one year ago.
Compared to the general population, Indigenous LGBTQIA+ people are disproportionately affected: they live in poverty, miss more school, are at a higher risk for HIV, have limited access to justice, suffer higher rates of suicide, and, like Cazorla, face high levels of physical violence and murder. In advancing the rights of Indigenous Peoples, LGBTQIA+ people must be an integrative part of the movement at all levels.
That’s why Cultural Survival decided to focus this issue of our CSQ magazine on sexual and gender diversity. “Indigenizing Love” features diverse voices of LGBTQIA+ and Two-Spirit individuals across the globe. Much work remains to be done to truly return to the original teachings of our ancestors. Amplifying the voices of Indigenous LGBTQIA+ leaders is an essential part of this work. As an organization, Cultural Survival makes an impact by mainstreaming LGBTQIA+ rights alongside Indigenous rights.
Please join me on this journey to respect, protect, and fulfill the rights of all Indigenous people by investing in Cultural Survival today.
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