May 5, 2011
By: Joe Siegel/TRT Reporter
Wilfred Labiosa has been an active member of the Boston LGBT community for many years. Labiosa is the founder of Som@s Latinos LGBT Coalition of Massachusetts and Latino Pride of New England and is a member of the Board of Directors of Unid@s – the National LGBT Latino Organization for Human Rights. He now serves as the Executive Director of CASPAR, a non-profit organization which provides services for people dealing with substance abuse. The Rainbow Times asked Labiosa to share his views on a range of LGBT issues.
TRT: What needs to be done to increase awareness of the importance of funding for HIV/AIDS ?
WL : We all should work towards informing all about the importance of increasing funding for HIV/AIDS because AIDS is not over yet and people are living with HIV and don’t know it. More importantly we need to educate on increasing funding for prevention programs. Prevention is the key element including increasing funding for risk-factor prevention programs that educate about substance abuse/alcohol addictions, STD’s screenings, needle sharing, etc.
TRT: Which people in the LGBT or allied community have been most influential in your life?
WL: There are so many people in the LGBT community that have influenced my life including Representative Liz Malia and Carl Sciortino, Oz M., Camille D., Linda D., Anibal, Tisha, Pedro Julio, John A., Lisbeth, Beth, Cristian P, John B., and so many others. Of course there are allies that have influenced my life like Ana Margarita, Willie S, Yarice, Henia H., Libyan, Uncle David, Chandni, and Sail, among so many others. All of them have taught me something that I have incorporated in my work, my relationships, my advocacy community work, and in my life in general.
TRT: How can the average member of the LGBT community make a difference in our struggle?
WL: Every person counts and I believe that there are no average members as we all are important assets of the LGBT community. If we all see each other as equal members of the LGBT community, I know that we can make a change in how we treat each other. We should unite equally in the struggle for rights and be counted. We can all make a difference by telling our stories, and convey to others the richness of our diversity.
TRT: What is the best advice you have ever been given to do the proactive things you do today for our community?
WL: The best advice is that you can make your dreams come true; each one of us has the capacity and the strength to overcome our problems. One needs to be proactive and not just sit and hope that our dreams will come true, instead stand up and make it happen!
TRT: What have you done for the LGBT community individually or collectively that you are proudest of?
WL: I have been most proud of being able to bring together members of the LGBT community from all ethnicities as well as allies during Latino Pride of New England activities. Latino Pride events, now facilitated by the Boston Pride Committee, bring together people that normally don’t participate of activities due to their “closet” status, financial issues, or family related problems. This event, the longest running event of its kind in our Nation, has been the springboard for other Latino Pride celebrations to begin across other states.
I’m also very proud of the Latino Vision column that (The Rainbow Times) publishes as it is the first column of its kind in an English paper but in Spanish. In addition, I am very proud of the advocacy work that I have done at a local, national, and international level on behalf of the Latino GLBT and GLBT community; inclusion of diversity is always a problem in coalitions and in the general LGBT community, hence I have always spoken about the inclusion of the Latino GLBT community – “we need to be included at the table and in every discussion.”
TRT: What motivates your work within this community?
WL: All the work that we have accomplished and all of the work yet to be done-our history and our future motivates me to continue the work for the LGBT community especially for the LGBT Latino/a community.
TRT: What can be done about teen suicides that happen as a result of bullying or anti-gay sentiment?
WL: We can all stand together and educate our teens to be proud of who they are and to look ahead into a brighter future. Bullying and anti-gay sentiment have always been existent in our community but it is 2011 and we must educate others about this problem and stand up against it. It is important to rise above it and report it to the appropriate authorities.
TRT: What are the top three issues that affect our community the most?
WL: The top three issues affecting our Latino/a LGBT Community are: Immigration Reform, Lack of equal wages, and racism noted in our neighborhoods, cities, and states.
TRT: Do you consider yourself a hero for the LGBT community?
WL: I don’t consider myself to be a hero in the LGBT Community; I’m only doing the advocacy work that needs to be done, educate others of our community, and bring a voice to those in the Latino/a LGBT community that don’t feel comfortable speaking up. It is about bringing the voice and the “experience” of being a Latino gay man to the “table,” no matter which one it is and how difficult it might be.
TRT: Will full LGBT equality be achieved in this country during the next 10 years? 20 years? How?
WL: Definitely. We will triumph and achieve full LGBT equality in the next 10 years; and in the next 20 years in most Latin American countries by all working together and use our stories to educate our allies of our community – one step and a person at a time. We can achieve it all but only if we unite giving the chance for all and not the few to speak up. It is not special rights, it is just equal rights!
TRT: Do you think that there are special needs in the Hispanic LGBT community that do not exist in the mainstream LGBT community?
WL: Of course there are needs. I won’t categorize them as special but areas to focus as they should be of importance to all the LGBT community and not just the Latino community. These are areas related to equal rights, for example: immigration reform. In addition, as a Latino LGBT community we are in need of safe spaces to congregate and learn, and more educational opportunities. We as a Latino LGBT community should take the initiative to educate others in the Latino community about the diversity, and issues affecting the LGBT brothers and sisters.
