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Border Intimacies: Student Activism, Reproductive Justice, and Queer

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Border Intimacies: Student Activism, Reproductive Justice, and Queer BORDER INTIMACIES: STUDENT ACTIVISM, REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE, AND QUEER RIGHTS IN THE LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY, 1968-2000 A Dissertation by MICHAEL ANGELO RANGEL Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Chair of Committee, Carlos Blanton Committee Members, Felipe Hinojosa Sonia Hernandez Daniel Humphrey Head of Department, Carlos Blanton May 2021 Major Subject: History Copyright 2021 Michael Angelo Rangel ABSTRACT This dissertation, "Border Intimacies: Student Activism, Reproductive Justice, and Queer Rights in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, 1968-2000," studies the formation of queer and Chicanx identities in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. It explores how these identities formed while combatting racism, sexism, and homophobia along the U.S.-Mexico Border. Even as the goal of the dissertation is to recover voices for queer Chicanxs, it also explores general Chicanx/Latinx history and the contributions made to challenge their racialized positions in the United States. In this dissertation, I argue that Chicanx and queer people organized around their non-normative identities to disrupt Anglo, patriarchal domination in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. It examines how (queer) Chicanx built coalitions with other identity groups while mobilizing for education reform, reproductive justice, and queer rights. Chicanx people needed to mobilize against Anglo domination despite Anglos making up a minority of the Valley’s population, but disproportionality wielded significant political, economic, and social power over Chicanxs in the Valley that left Chicanxs silenced. Therefore, the struggle of Chicanx, queer, and queer Chicanx people in those spaces offer a crucial lens for understanding the operation of Anglo, patriarchal power both in the Valley and along the border. Their resistance to Anglo, patriarchal power best seen through the mistreatment of Chicanx students in the public schools, the exploitation of Chicanx labor, especially Chicanas, and the hostilities queer Chicanx people faced in accessing health care during a public health crisis during the AIDS Epidemic. Also, while these groups initially acted separately from one another, such as Chicanx students only engaging with other Chicanx students. These movements gradually bled into one another as ii activists participated in multiple groups either through their shared identities or a desire to see an expansion of social justice. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are no warnings that can truly prepare someone for a graduate program. But to have any hope of surviving, a graduate student desperately needs the proper support system. This dissertation and doctoral program while built from my dedication, sweat, tears, anxiety, blood, and broken bones, I am also indebted to all the help that I had to make it to the end. While my struggles pale in compression to the stories of the people that this dissertation documents, I nonetheless feel close connections to these people. To the Chicanx students who protested for education reform, to the women struggling to attain reproductive health, to the queer people fighting for space, and to the people dying because of the federal government’s inability to address an epidemic, this dissertation is about them. I would like to thank everyone who helped me complete this dissertation, and everyone who helped me survive my graduate studies. I owe a great deal of thanks to my family, friends, and professors who helped to motivate me to continue and reach the finish line of my doctoral program. I am also extremely grateful to my fellow graduate students at Texas A&M University and to my peers from Texas Tech University who all helped in refining my research, reminding me of the importance of my scholarship, and also serving as close confidants in addressing the stress of graduate school. Amongst my graduate peers, I would like to personally thank Dr. Hillary Anderson, Dr. Tiffany González, David Yagüe González, Manuel Grajeles, Alessandra Ribota, Edwin Aguilar, Peter Scaramuzzo, Leslie Davila, Allison Faber, Clemente Gomez, Ryan Abt, John Wendt, Collin Rohbaugh, Christina Lake, and Darian Condarco for helping to refine my research and being such an important support system for my personal wellbeing. iv To my advisor, Dr. Carlos Blanton, I cannot thank you enough for everything you have done for me during my program. I appreciate the numerous candid conversations we had regarding graduate school and the job market. And I truly appreciate that you came to visit me in the hospital after I broke my leg. It was then that I truly realized that you are the best advisor a graduate student could ask for. To my committee, Dr. Sonia Hernández, Dr. Felipe Hinojosa, and Dr. Daniel Humphrey, I am grateful for all the help and feedback that you provided into my research. I also appreciate all the assistance you gave me going into my comprehensive exams. To my family, thank you for all the support you provided me these last seven years. Even when you could not understand my specific struggles, I appreciate that you listened to me as I vented. v CONTRIBUTORS AND FUNDING SOURCES Contributors This work was supported by a dissertation committee consisting of Professor Carlos Kevin Blanton (advisor), Professor Sonia Hernández, and Felipe Hinojosa of the Department of History, and Professor Daniel I. Humphrey of the Department of Performance Studies. All work conducted for the dissertation was completed by the student independently. Funding Sources Graduate study was supported by a Graduate Teaching Assistant and Graduate Assistant Lecturer fellowship by Texas A&M University and a research fellowship from the Glasscock Graduate Research Fellowship. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………… ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………………… iv CONTRIBUTORS AND FUNDING SOURCES…………………………………………. vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION, FINDING PRIDE IN THE VALLEY………………….. 1 CHAPTER II DEFINING EL VALLE……………………………………………………... 32 CHAPTER III VIVA LA RAZA…………………………………………………………… 57 CHAPTER IV MATERNAL BORDERS………………………………………………….. 83 CHAPTER V WHERE THE QUEERS GO………………………………………………... 108 CHAPTER VI SILENCE = DEATH……………………………………………………….. 133 CHAPTER VII CONCLUSION, PA’LANTE…………………………………………….. 163 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………………. 172 vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION, FINDING PRIDE IN THE VALLEY On June 24, 2018, Valley AIDS Council (VAC) and the South Texas Equality Project (STEP) hosted the fifth annual “Pride in the Park” in the city of McAllen, Texas located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (the Valley). “Pride in the Park” is a celebration and reminder of the struggle of LGBTQ rights in the Valley and the United States.1 Much like other pride events, McAllen hosts theirs at the end of June, in memory of the Stonewall Inn Riots of June 28, 1969, in New York City. It was at Stonewall that saw the transformation of the Homophile Movement into the Gay Liberation Movement.2 The Stonewall Inn Riots saw queer people rioting against the police after a series of police raids in Greenwich Village. The latest raid at the Stonewall Inn bar became the final straw with, primarily, queer people of color pushing back against the police. While Marsha P. Johnson, a trans African American woman, being cited as one of the first people to attack the police on the second night of the riots after shattering a police cruiser's windshields. The Stonewall Inn Riots became a rallying point for queer people nationwide as riots and protests in queer communities soon followed to challenge their second-class treatment, and continues to serve as one of the most critical moments in queer history. 1 This dissertation alternates between using LGBTQ and queer to identify those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer amongst other identities such as pansexual, intersex, gender non-conforming, and asexual. To minimize confusion, as generally accepted by other scholars in queer studies, I choose to use the word "queer" as a catchall term unless the situation requires a more specific identifier. Examples of this include when referring to individuals, groups, or organizations. Also, with the utilization of Queer Theory, the word queer explores not just LGBTQ sexualities, but also identity and queerness as it falls into debates over normative and deviant behavior. Normative behavior meaning behaviors that society upholds and defends such as heterosexuality, while deviant behavior reflects that which society persecutes such as homosexuality and queerness. 2 The Homophile Movement was an early version of the gay rights movement that developed after World War II with middle-class queer activists in positions of power: two of the most visible organizations being the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis. By 1970, more radical queer and trans’ rights organizations would emerge to address the racial and gender identity gaps of the Mattachine Society and Daughters of Bilitis. 1 In McAllen, “Pride in the Park” featured queer people, their families, and allies mingling through both queer and Chicanx/Mexican cultural activities.3 These included drag and mariachi performances, playing Loteria (a game similar to bingo), and plenty of dancing.4 For 2018, the organizers chose the theme "Pride = Power" to remind attendees not only of the importance of celebrating pride but to remain civically engaged in furthering the work of queer activism. The choice of “Pride = Power” echoes
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