Arianna Rodriguez
Staff Writer
In honor of National Coming Out Day, two Spanish documentary screenings were presented at the Hanawalt House Oct. 11.
There were five students in the room contributing to the intimate setting.
Assistant Professor of Psychology James Garcia held the screening and presented the first film, “El Canto del Caubri,” which translates to “The Singing of the Hummingbird.” The documentary was based on a father’s perspective of his children coming out in the Latinx community.
The second film was “Tres Gotas de Agua,” which translates to “Three Drops of Water,” and was a mother’s perspective on her children coming out.
The families in “El Canto del Caubri,” explained their history migrating from Mexico.
The fathers explained the struggles of crossing over to the U.S. and starting over with nothing.
From watching their children grow up, they never expected them to have such a sense of feeling different.
One father in the “El Canto del Caubri” film stated, “Just be prepared to fight for your rights.”
Another father explained that he was proud of his child coming out to him, and said they’re always going to have to fight for their rights, and they have to prepare for that.
Some fathers were afraid that their children were going to be rejected by society, which then led into the topic of machismo.
“This idea of machismo is what gets taught in some Latin American countries and gets passed down,” Garcia said. “Some people have said that this idea of machismo paints Latino men in a restricted light.”
The idea of machismo in a Latinx household makes it difficult to cross over into the LGBT community because they were brought up against it.
Religion also plays a role as to why some Latinx individuals find it hard to come out to their parents.
Taylor Croft, sophomore creative writing major, said the film reminded her of someone she knew that was affected by religion.
“Whenever a Christian pastor that I knew talked about the topic of coming out, I could feel the tension in the room,” Croft said. “It gave me mixed signals on whether it is okay to be who you are.”
Alumnus Levi Reed was also affected by the movie and felt sympathetic toward the families.
“It’s just sad because there’s this guy who came out to his dad and basically thinks that who he is, coming out, is a sign of disrespect toward his family,” Reed said.
In “Tres Gotas de Agua” it seemed the mothers took it a little easier on their children coming out to them. One mother said that all that matters is having the right person by your side.
“The film reminded me of when my brother came out,” Aimee Ruiz, junior educational studies major, said. “Our father took it very hard and my mother accepted him instantly.”
As the films touched some students, Garcia said he had only one motive behind presenting the documentaries.
“I see this as a way of giving back, making people aware of what these people go through because it’s not easy,” said Garcia.
Arianna Rodriguez can be reached at arianna.rodriguez@laverne.edu.
