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As an undocumented Latino kid, David Campos thought there would never be a place for him in the United States. He also thought his parents would never come to terms with his sexual orientation.
There are thousands whose experiences mirror what Campos went through when he was younger, trying to navigate through life feeling unaccepted in the country and by their own families.
“At least as an undocumented person, you have your family that’s also in the same situation,” Campos said. “But when you inject the sexual orientation or the gender identity piece, that means that you could actually potentially lose the most basic support you have which is the people in your family who love you. You kind of live with this really real fear because you kind of get it from both ends.”
Campos eventually became a citizen and his family came to embrace his sexual orientation, and he is now a Deputy County Executive. Friday, he gave the welcoming address to Santa Clara County’s first conference on discrimination the local LGBT undocumented community face as they continue to experience challenges from income instability to lack of healthcare services — a population dubbed “undocuqueer.”
There are more than 267,000 undocumented LGBT immigrant adults — about 2.7 percent of the undocumented population — living in the U.S, according to the latest data from the Williams Institute at UCLA. Many escaped violence, poverty and discrimination in their home country, only to find themselves facing new challenges — from lack of healthcare services to job insecurity — here in the U.S.
The Santa Clara County of LGBTQ Affairs and the UndocuSpartan Student Resource Center held the Empowered Undocuqueer Leaders Conference on Friday at San Jose State to promote inclusivity, create positive visibility and provide resources.
Undocuqueer, according to event organizer Kevin Gaytan, originated in the early 2000s in the Los Angeles area. Born in Zacatecas, Mexico, his mom brought him to the U.S. at age 5. He grew up in east San Jose and became “DACA-mented” in 2012 when the program was incepted.
Gaytan, now 24, came out to his supportive mom as gay three years ago. He said identifying as undocuqueer is empowering.
“I use the term undocuqueer to express my multiple identities in one comprehensive term,” Gaytan said. “I use undocuqueer to represent my immigration status as being undocumented. I used the word queer to represent my identity as a gay man. And in general always representing that I come from a minority, but also understanding that it’s a powerful minority.”
The “New America” fellowship, a Santa Clara County program that places DACA recipients in jobs throughout the county as a way to give them professional opportunities and resources, assigned him to the county’s Office of LGBT Affairs.
Through his research on the undocuqueer population and the many disparities they face, he found that this population faces obstacles, from housing insecurity to employment discrimination. He added members of the community unequal treatment in schools and the healthcare system.
That sparked the desire to host a conference to empower the undocumented LGBT community. Gaytan said he hopes Santa Clara County continues to host the undocuqueer conference annually with different themes.
About 30 people, representatives from community organizations and allies, attended Friday’s conference. Workshops covered how to support undocuqueer individuals by discussing rights, identity, healing and local resources.
Yosimar Reyes, artist-in-residence at the media and culture organization Define America and the conference’s keynote speaker, discussed immigration policy in his workshop. The 29-year-old undocumented queer Mexican immigrant and Los Angeles resident said he focuses on telling uplifting stories through poetry.
Reyes said he is amazed by how undocumented queer people have created their own subculture that they identify with, gain strength from and celebrate.
Other than the organizers and speakers, however, no other attendees publicly identified as both undocumented and queer.
Jocelynn Mijangos, a 17-year-old San Jose resident who identifies as bisexual and Mexican-American, said an undocuqueer friend of hers was looking forward to attending the conference. But Friday morning, the friend told her he couldn’t join her because his parents asked too many questions about why he wanted to go. He isn’t out to his parents and feared they would find out about his sexuality.
“I was like, ‘don’t worry then, it’s fine, it’s fine,’” Mijangos said. “‘You don’t have to go. If anything I’ll tell you everything that’s going on. I’ll help you out, don’t worry. Just take care of yourself first.’”
