Out the Archives is a recurring feature diving into the Windy City Times collection, offering a look back at the rich history of LGBTQ+ Chicago. In this edition, we look back at the June 1997 issue of En La Vida.
Nowadays, there’s lots of talk about how LGBTQ+ people belong in all types of communities. In June 1997, En La Vida wrote on intersectionality in the hip hop community—saying “the last or very last thing [people] equate with [the queer community] is Hip Hop culture.”
Part of author Osvaldo Del Valle’s reasoning for writing the story at the time was the difference in traditional stereotypes for hip hop artists and gay men. While in the hip hop scene being macho and strong and masculine was highly regarded, the queer community focused more on dismantling those traditional roles.
Del Valle talks about his experience growing up in Humboldt Park as a big hip hop fan, and once he realized he was gay, that didn’t change. However, he became more acutely aware many other gay people around him were not into hip hop or the more masculine culture.
One of the harder parts of remaining a fan to him was fearing he might not find a lot of people like him—or even open to queer identity—in the fan community. Outside of hip hop fans, other people would assign stereotypes to him simply for being a fan of the genre.
In Chicago, it also had to do with neighborhoods. Del Valle is from Humboldt Park and has other friends from the west side who said they couldn’t identify with the experiences in Northalsted.
Once in an interview, Del Valle said he was asked why he was interested in a music genre that didn’t seem to want someone like him. To Del Valle, it’s because it was both important to him before he even came out, and it doesn’t make him less a part of the culture of fans. He talks about finding people like him on the coasts—queer Latinos like himself in New York City, L.A. and San Francisco.
There wasn’t much queer hip hop representation to work with at the time, whereas now it’s easy to look up stars who have come out or who have openly shown support for the LGBTQ+ community. Despite that, queer people were always there and always showing support for the things that mattered to them.
