Queer talking to Indigenous, Indigenous Talking to Queer

My case study focuses on the experience, strategies of mobilization, and discourses of grassroots Queer and indigenous collective “Maricas Bolivia” in La Paz, Bolivia. Its purpose is to understand (1) the relevance and signification for indigenous peoples of decolonizing their sexual identities and (2) the relations between ethnicity and sexual identities from an intersectional point of view. My main thesis is analyzing the fact that the decolonization process is influenced by a patriarchal structure of binary gender and sexual identity, which were also imposed by the colonization of indigenous peoples. At the same time, I analyze the criticisms articulated by Maricas Bolivia against the process of creating a hegemonic LGBTIQ+ / Queer identity.

Context: The indigenous collective Maricas Bolivia has been fighting for the last 10 years against the exclusion of indigenous queer or ‘Maricon’ individuals and towards a non-binary sexual concept. They criticize the social and political/power structure of indigenous organizations as characterized by obstacles in the exercise of rights and access to power structures in communities and organizations. “Maricón” is a Spanish negative term used in some Latin American countries, including Bolivia, to refer to someone who is gay or homosexual. It is sometimes considered offensive or derogatory, depending on the context and the attitudes of the people using it. In the context of the indigenous collective “Maricas Bolivia,” they have reclaimed and repurposed the term to empower themselves and challenge societal norms and prejudices from a decolonial perspective.