Unid@s announces its first Board of Directors
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Unid@s announces its first Board of Directors
January 29, 2007
Unid@s, the National Latina/o Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Human Rights Organization announced today the selection of its first Board of Directors. Looking to fill the void of a national organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Latinas/os, a group of Latina/o lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) leaders met in Seattle on October 2004 to create a Steering Committee to develop the organizational base for this effort. After several months of preparation, the Steering Committee opened the process to recruit members for the initial Board of Directors of this new organization. Through a democratic, transparent and open voting process via the internet, Latino/a LGBT community members selected the new board members.
After an inclusive, thorough and transparent process, we have laid the groundwork for the first Board of Directors that will have the task of building this organization. We are grateful of the participation of LGBT Latinas/os in this process. This grassroots effort has set the stage for a national Latina/o LGBT organization that represents everyone and stands as a powerful and effective voice in the struggle for equal rights and liberation, said Ruby Corado, co-chair of Unid@s Steering Committee.
The Board of Directors of Unid@s will be comprised of 13 members, seven from each geographical region and six members from states with larger concentration of Latinas/os. The regions are: North East, South East, Puerto Rico, North Central, South Central, Mid West and West. The following states: New York, Illinois, Texas, California and Massachusetts, as well as the District of Columbia, will have an additional slot to address density of LGBT Latinas/os.
The Steering Committee developed guidelines to ensure that we created a Board that represents as many experiences and the diversity of identities including gender, class, ethnicity, age, immigration history and sexual orientations. In an effort to ensure balanced participation of all members of our community, there are four slots for lesbian and/or bisexual women, four slots for gay and/or bisexual men, four slots for transgender people and one slot that can be filled with someone from any of the above communities. At the same time, there will be an innovative leadership composition of three chairs: one transgender, one lesbian or bisexual woman, and one gay or bisexual man.
During this voting process, 11 board members were elected, but due to our demographical and geographical guidelines, the Board has two vacant slots. To comply with the demographical guidelines, these two slots must be filled with one transgender person and one lesbian or bisexual woman. To comply with the geographical guidelines, these two additional members must be one from California and one from Illinois. These vacancies will be filled by the elected Board.
The elected Board members are:
North East: One member will represent these states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. One member will represent New York and one member will represent Massachusetts.
Gael Gundin Guevara, New York, trans
Gael Gundin Guevara is trans-identified boy born and raised in Panama City, Panama. Gael is a collective and the Community Organizing Coordinator at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, an organization that provides free legal services to low-income and people of color that are trans, intersex, and gender non-conforming. Gael is also a working group member of Trans Justice, a New York City based community organizing working group of the Audre Lorde Project created by and for trans and gender non-conforming people of color. Gael has been part of the steering committee of Sigamos Adelante, since its beginnings and continues to support the national efforts to create a strong and unified Latino/Hispanic LGBT voice.
Wilfred Labiosa was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Received his Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Latin American Studies from Boston University and his Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern University; working towards completion of his PhD in Applied Psychology. He is currently the Program Director of the Relapse Prevention & Outpatient Services of Casa Esperanza, Inc.; also an adjunct professor in the Liberal Arts Department of Cambridge College. He has vast experience in working in the public health and mental health fields locally and nationally. He has served in different capacities in local, national, and international organizations. He is co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of Somos Latinos/as LGBT Coalition of Massachusetts and the annual Latino Pride Celebration. He is committed in working with others in the advancement of Communities of Color including LGBT people, as well as in their inclusion and recognition by mainstream LGBT and Latino organizations.
Sandra Telep, South East, lesbian
Ruby Jade Corado, D.C., trans
Gabriel González, North Central, gay
South Central: One member will represent these states: Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New México, Texas and Oklahoma. One member will represent Texas.
Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano, South Central, gay
Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano is a Queer-identified Xicano born in San José, California and raised between his birthplace and southern Chihuahua, México. He has dedicated his professional, academic and artistic career to looking
at the intersections of social justice movements. He is the author of the Lambda Literary Award-nominated Santo de la Pata Alzada: Poems from the Queer/Xicano/Positive Pen (Evelyn Street Press, 2005); editor of Queer Codex, a radical queer people of color cultural arts anthology series
published in collaboration by Evelyn Street Press, a progressive feminist publishing house, and ALLGO; and is scheduled to publish his second collection of poetry, Promesas y Amenazas (Xorizote Press) in September of 2007. Lorenzo Holds a Master in Liberal Arts from St. Edward's University,
and is currently in the Master of Science in Organizational Leadership & Ethics program at the same academic institution.
Cristina E. Martinez was born on November 12, 1961, and raised in Mexico until the age of 14. She graduated from high school in Houston, Texas and attended the University of St. Thomas. She joined the military (Army) and served for 8 years. Currently she is the CEO of Mad Clik, Inc., publisher of the Gay & Lesbian Rainbow Pages and president of MD Marketing & Advertising. Extremely active in the non-profit sector of the GLBT community in several organizations, Cristina is looking to grow Latino/a organizations. Feeling a void in this country for Latino LGBT organizations and events ergo, Cristina created the first ever Latino Gay Orgullo Week last year in Texas. The second annual Latino Gay Orgullo Week will be June 2007 culminating with a Black Tie Dance.
Mid West: One member will represent these states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. One member will represent Illinois (VACANT).
Jorge Alexandro Cestou is a latino gay activist in the city of Chicago, Illinois. He was born in Laredo, Texas. At the age of 24, he migrated to the city of Chicago, where he is active in organizations and the Illinois Latino/a LGBT community. He has a master’s degree in business administration
(MBA). His participation in human rights organizations is of great importance to him, specially the ones dealing with LGBT equality.
West: One member will represent these states: Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California. One member will represent California (VACANT).
Yose V. Lewis is a dark skinned Latino female to male transsexual who has been an activist since 1973. A health educator, speaker, writer, performer, trainer, facilitator and spiritual hugger, Yoseñio is a member of the Board of Directors of The Woodhull Sexual Freedom Foundation and of Tenderloin Health (in San Francisco). He was most recently on the Board of Directors of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF). Yoseñio is also a co-founder of Big Boys' Ink™ Productions, a theatrical writing and performing company. Yoseñio is also a co-founder of "The TransAms", a barbershop quartet composed of transsexual men. Yoseñio has been a subject of several documentaries, including Christopher Lee's "Trappings of Transhood" and the television channel A&E's "Transgender Revolution."
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