Trans & Latino/a/e
Queer Latino/a/e experiences are extremely under-represented in both Connecticut and the national LGBTQ+ movement. This marginalization gets even deeper when it comes to nonbinary and transgender Latino/a/e individuals. In this panel, we will explore the intersections between trans and Latino/a/e identities, talk with community members to understand how their experience is both unique and universal, and begin to undo the erasure of trans identities in both the Latino/a/e community and the larger LGBTQ+ movement.
Thank You to Our Sponsors
Meet Our Speakers
Erycka (she/her)
Erycka, the experimental pop singer-songwriter, is a force to be reckoned with, despite starting her music career only 3 years ago. Since 2018, Erycka has performed on many stages including headlining New London’s Pride festival twice. Erycka organized her own tour in 2019 which included shows in Bridgeport, New Haven, and locations in New London such as Cultured Studios. She is also a community organizer, activist, poet, and this year’s Keynote speaker and performer for New Haven’s LGBTQ+ Youth Conference.
Alejandro Galarza (he/him)
Bio coming soon.
Mia Lozada (she/her)
Mia is a proud Connecticut native becoming the first transgender woman of color who ran for State Representative in Hartford’s third district. Mia’s activism for the transgender community started when women and men of color were brutally murdered in 2015 due to the lack of knowledge on gender identity. Her mission is to eliminate hate crimes and violence against transgender people and make the world a better place where everyone of all backgrounds can express themselves one way or the other. She has worked with multiple students with HeartBeat Ensemble’s youth program ‘Startin Drama’ back in 2016 along with Hannah Simms and Meg Smith. Giving back to the Latinx, POC, & Black communities of all ages, she hope’s that together we can continue the ongoing fight to peace and justice. As a former graduate of the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, Mia continues to participate in Acting and Musical Theater performances. Her recent role of Baby Cakes in a play entitled “Universal Womb” was written by Auza Echeverria and Directed by Arien Wilkerson. The play took place in Hartford, CT in 2019.
Ace Ricker (he/him), Moderator
Ace has been an educator and advocate for over fifteen years. He has worked with a wide variety of organizations, religious forums, and non-profits, and has delivered diversity and inclusion workshops and materials on topics like suicide prevention, LGBTQ+ awareness, safer sex, rape culture and sexism, religion and spirituality, and more. He plans to continue working to eliminate ignorance throughout Connecticut communities, both on his own and with others in the LGBTQ+ community.