spotlight Forbidden
SERRANO UNDOCUMENTED
MOISES AND QUEER
IN RURAL AMERICA As members of the LGBTQ community,
by joel martens
we have a deep understanding of what it is to struggle against being different and having to fight against that isolation and its oppressive nature. The process of personal and then social acceptance around those biologically born
differences, help define the core of who we are as individuals and as a group.
For many, concealing that part of who we are was, based on a sense of deep shame placed
on us, which told us being “different” was an unnatural state of being. Most of us quickly understood too, that it was a secret we needed to keep hidden, stowed deep in the recesses
of our lives. Indeed, for some, it still can be a matter of survival, literally.
The process of breaking those chains
isn’t called “coming out” without reason. By stepping into the light and out of those shadows, we managed to redefined who we are in society, doing so by changing the
narrative from the outside. Doggedly refusing to buy into the shame foisted upon us and the misdirected hostility from those who live in the fear of something they don’t understand.
Different = Bad
Different = Scapegoat Different =Forbidden
You’ve managed to put a face on being gay and the issue of immigration and its challenges. We tend to see the world these days in terms of groups or ideologies and forget that these
Moises Serrano takes on that fight as well as another one which divides us deeply in the film Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America. It swims into the divisive debate of not only being queer and what growing up in a rural North Carolina was like, but doing so as one who is undocumented, as well. Born across the border, he was brought to the U.S. at eighteen months and has lived here ever since. This is the only home he has ever known and as he often says, “I fell in love with my country.” The documentary, soon to be featured on
Logo, follows Moises’ personal journey of self-acceptance as a gay man and as an undocumented immigrant. Coming out of the shadows not just in one world, but in two and why both pushed him towards activism as he fights for his version of the American dream.
are real people, real human beings who struggle and not nameless faces. Was that your intention when you started out doing this? Definitely. The goal of the immigration reform movement, specifically since the years I’ve been involved starting in 2010, is to bring the undocumented population out of the shadows, much like the LGBTQ population comes out of the closet. That’s where we sort of borrowed the framework. Having immigrants “come out,” personalizes the issue and individualizes it, making it real and very tangible for communities across the nation. The process reminds me of the early days of the LGBT movement, when Harvey Milk talked about the importance of coming out to your friends, family and coworkers. It put a face on the people who were LGBT. Was that the model you followed when you decided to take this on? I saw that it was quite effective on a global
scale and on the grassroots level. The idea of “How do we start a conversation?” There is
36 RAGE monthly | SEPTEMBER 2017
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