CNN premieres its four-hour two-part series “Latino in America” at 9 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, October 21, and Thursday, October 22. Soledad O’Brien hosts.
Here’s a brief description of the series from its website:
By 2050, the U.S. Latino population is expected to nearly triple. This October, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien explores how Latinos are reshaping our communities and culture and forcing a nation of immigrants to rediscover what it means to be an American.
The Latino series was inspired by CNN’s coverage of the African-American community in two series—”Black in America” and “Black in America 2“—that also were hosted by Soledad O’Brien.
CNN has been promoting the Latino series on CNN.com with related articles, including an article titled “Gay Latino Americans are ‘coming of age’” by John Blake.
Here’s an excerpt:
The Latino community has long had a reputation for being notoriously homophobic. But some surprising developments within the Latino world—in the United States and abroad—suggest that may be changing, gay scholars and activists say.
The article starts with blogger Perez Hilton, who is “one of the first Latino public figures in the U.S. to be openly gay.” He’s referred to as a “pioneer” because “gay Latinos in the nation’s public arena remain largely invisible.”
Others quoted include author Charlie Vazquez; Lourdes Torres, president of Amigas Latinas; poet and author Emanuel Xavier; and blogger Andres Duque.
It’s not every day that a mainstream media outlet focuses on LGBT Latinos. When such an outlet does such a great job, it’s worth taking note. The sources referenced above were excellent and the writing was fair and accurate. My only quibble with language use in the article would be the writer’s constant use of “gay” instead of “LGBT” to refer to the community.
What was most satisfying to read was that actions by a Spanish-language newspaper were cited as progress for LGBT Latinos:
Gay Latino activists point to several signs of this transformation: El Diario La Prensa, one of the oldest and largest Spanish-language newspapers in the U.S., recently endorsed the rights of same-sex couples to marry.
I too was taken aback when El Diario La Prensa endorsed marriage for same-sex couples. Kudos to El Diario La Prensa, but double kudos to CNN for recognizing the influence that media still exerts.