'We Have Always Been Here,' A Mississippi Queerceañera
Possibly the first-ever Latinx LGBTQ+ event in Mississippi + A poem from a tornado recovery
Happy Sunday! This week, I was honored to learn that my story, “‘It Belongs To Us, Too’: Latinx LGTBQ Mississippians Gather In Jackson For Inaugural ‘Queerceañera,’” was named a finalist in the Society of Professional Journalists Diamond Awards in the photo essay category. The story, which is linked above and will be excerpted below, focuses on a “Queerceañera” which occurred in Jackson, MS, in 2022. The event honored Li-Ann Sanches, a trans activist, for her organizing work in LGBTQ communities across the South with the newly-founded Immigrant Alliance for Justice and Equity Deep South Freedom Fighter Award and the courage behind her own transition. Organizers believe it is the first documented Latinx LGBTQ event ever held in the state.
Finally, I want to share a poem I wrote during the tornado recovery in Amory, MS, to accompany a photograph of my longtime friend Davis Helton, standing near the pitchers mound of the destroyed high school baseball field. I guess I’ll let the cat out of the bag - the poem was a warm-up exercise for a novel I am hoping to finish by the end of the year, focusing on myth and legend in the American South. Scroll down for both stories, and I’ll see you next week! (Your email may shorten this message. If so, click “view entire story” at the end of this email.)
‘It Belongs To Us, Too’: Latinx LGTBQ Mississippians Gather In Jackson For Inaugural ‘Queerceañera’
As Li Ann Sanchez, the 34-year-old guest of honor, entered the room in a white dress with a white cape trailing feet behind her, the colored lights beamed stars across the banquet hall walls. The IAJE chose Sanchez, a Mexican and indigenous trans woman, to be the honoree for the celebration and the recipient of the organization’s new Deep South LGBTQ Freedom Fighter Award due to her activism for immigrant communities in the South.
During the event, Sanchez participated in the traditions of a quinceañera. She waltzed across the tiled dance floor with a doll a maid gifted to her, led a choreographed solo dance and accepted a pair of heels from a chamberlain. After receiving a series of gifts, Sanchez danced individually with members of the crowd who volunteered.
“I’m happy and proud to be part of this important event because a lot of indigenous and trans and gender non-conforming people deserve quinceañeras,” Sanchez said in a speech opening the event. “I asked for one as a child, but my parents said no and that they are for women only.”
Where Did He Go (2023)
Burnt cigarettes in the carton,
He’s still got capital,
We should talk about the tree,
Fallen down now, it used
to shake in the thunder,
His window cracked, terrified
that lightning bolt scar might animate
and dissolve the tree to ashes,
Now the town’s in ruins,
Tornado killed the streetlights,
Where did He Go?
Until next time,
Lukas Flippo :)