How Ricky Martin is Changing the Face of Latino Fatherhood

Tomorrow, People en Español will hit the stands, with a new Fathers' Day issue whose cover will be graced by Ricky Martin and his two sons, Valentino and Matteo. The image of a gay Latino father will be in living rooms and supermarkets across the country.

Those who believe only white people can be gay will have a wonderful time explaining this one to their children.

Toward the end of March this year, Latino pop star Ricky Martin made international news by coming out of the closet. While Ricky’s coming out was mostly viewed as a publicity stunt or as something hardly worthy of surprise, it certainly created waves. Although many dismissed the moment as an overdue statement of the obvious, others — myself included — found it monumental.

It's true that we're light years away from seeing accurate and respectful representations of LGBT people in mainstream media — yet we seem to have reached enough saturation of gayness to not blink an eye when another pop star comes out (think Clay Aiken and Adam Lambert).

But such apparent acceptance isn't universal. For young Latino boys living in rural parts of the U.S. and Latin America, Ricky’s coming out has huge implications. To see Ricky Martin come out is to witness the coming out of someone who has entered our living rooms through television, traveled long trips with us through the radio and watched us from the posters that cover our local markets. For some LGBT Latina/o youth, witnessing the coming out of Ricky Martin might be the first time that they understand that being queer doesn't just mean being white.

With a readership of 6.4 million people in the U.S. alone, People en Español is the most-read Spanish-language magazine in the country. Given the growing numbers of Latinas/os in the U.S., this issue of People en Español will be an important opportunity for Latina/o communities to witness fatherhood that is at once gay and Latino.

While there's no mathematical formula out there to measure homophobia, Latinas/os are among the groups often accused of being the most homophobic. While this myth is untrue, our communities have been complicit in homophobia, just as others have been. As an openly gay Latino father, Ricky is pushing the envelope on what it means to be gay, Latino, Spanish-speaking and a dad.

As I argued in one of my first Change.org articles, Latino masculinity continues to evolve before our eyes, and Ricky Martin is part of this transition. In just days, at least 6.4 million people will witness a kind of fatherhood they might have never previously imagined. At a time when LGBT Latinas/os are being murdered for being different, it's a historic moment to savor.

Photo Credit: lander2006