My grandfather Atanasio Garcia, circa 1940
While going through my grandmother’s family photos, I came across a few prints that had this curious commemorative Los Angeles border. They look to be some kind of souvenir stock for the 1932 Summer Los Angeles Olympics. One of the symbols is the Los Angeles Coliseum which I imagine was quite the accomplishment for our city during this time. I also like the motif of the bears and poppies.
The Games of the X Olympiad started almost exactly 76 years ago on July 30, 1932 here in Los Angeles.
It’s a word I have used repedeadly in the past because I wanted to make fun of someone or make them feel bad. It’s a word that is casually thrown around in certain circles because we’re all a bunch of guys acting like guys around each other. A word my parents would use to describe our neighbor and his friends. Yet, after watching the movie Bruno, I saw myself through the eyes of an outsider if you will to realize how homophobic friends and family really are because it is the norm. Somehow it’s ok to use those kind of words with friends and joke about it with family because it was instilled by society, culture, religion or just passed down from within the family, being gay is the worst thing you can be. Often times I find myself around friends that use that word, along with a plethora of others in demeaning and derogatory ways because somehow it’s OK to use that word. Much like any other hot button word that cannot be said, except by a person of that race. Kinda like me calling a friend a wetback beaner. It’s ok for me to say it because I’m Mexican but let me hear someone else saying that and all hell will break lose. That’s only the tip of the ice berg of course. When you add how religion demonizes homosexuality and instills in others that being gay is evil and wrong, violence tends to follow. What I’m trying to get at is that society as a whole paints this picture that everyone is better than anyone who may be gay and that it’s OK to treat them like shit because they are gay. I stopped using those kind of words with said circle of friends a few years ago, but it takes a conscious effort, which I am ashamed to admit. I have friends who are gay and they are some of the most kick ass people I know. I may have gotten rid of those inclinations to use derogatory words referencing homosexuality, but whenever I’m around a certain circle of friends all I hear is, “Dude, you’re a fucking fag man. Why you looking at me like that? You looking at my cock? pinche maricon hahahahahahah.”
