GENTE DEL CHUCO: “Here in El Paso, we’ve been taking baby steps. Chicanos and Latinos can be very traditional, but that’s just the cultura. Ten, maybe 15 years ago, it wasn't as common to be so out and proud. 2012 was the first year I founded the pride color guard.🏳️🌈 And it was one of those things where, you always have your doubts, how it's gonna turn out the very first time you do it. But now it’s a part of the pride parade every year! Then in 2021 I became the president of Chuco Bears.🐻❤️
Our mission is to be very inclusive. We like to bring in new ideas, put all of our elements together, and by embracing that, we’ve been able to network with not just the local bars, but also other networks. We started doing backpack drives, Easter basket drives, sock drives through the winter, etc.
In the bigger cities, since you have a wider range of people, I think it's probably what ignites change faster. Dallas for example has their Texas Bear Roundup, which has like 3,000 bears show up every year. The organization there is very inspirational to us, because they are a nonprofit, and they fundraise at least like over 100 grand a year, and they donate all those funds from all those bears that come and party, back to the community to their AIDS Foundation. That’s phenomenal.
El Paso is getting there, baby steps. But I can't see myself leaving El Paso. I'm very blessed that I'm taking care of my parents right now. So it's one of those situations where they are my priority. I’m very blessed to say that coming out for me was more like a speed bump when I was 21. Honestly, my mother was very heartbroken, only at first. And my dad was very supportive. He said he just wanted to make sure that I was sure.😅” - @americas20
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