by Ángel de Jesus Gonzalez
A lack of health sex education that is queer and trans inclusive continues. Many of us are not exposed to our resources until later in life, yet must learn everything regarding heterosexual sex practices and resources. This feels extremely homophobic and transphobic, especially given the health-induced epidemic we as a community experienced 40 years ago during the HIV/AIDS crisis. Now, in the midst of another global pandemic–experiencing remnants of survivor’s guilt, recollections of the past, and feelings of “we’ve been here before”–we must educate and provide adequate resources around health education once again. In this short audio, I engage in a reflective platíca where I revisit the first date with my partner, when I learned about his HIV+ status. The aim is to understand how we can move towards destigmatizing sex in communities impacted by HIV and provide current resources and practices. Ultimately this piece shares how I am positively in love.
As a self-identified first-generation queer, joto, Latinx scholar, Dr. Ángel de Jesus González’ passion lies in making a difference in their comunidad through education. A son of immigrant parents, Guadalupe y Miguel Ángel, partner to his love Luis, the brother to three sisters, a tio to seven nieces and nephews, their familia are the foundation and pillars of their successes. Dr. González recently received his Ed.D. from the Community College Leadership Program (CCLEAD) at San Diego State University. Their research utilizes critical qualitative methods of testimonios and queer chisme to co-create. Recent scholarly accolades include their current selection as The Center for Black, Brown, and Queer Studies Pedagogy Summer Fellow, their selection as a Graduate Research Fellow for the American Council on Education (ACE). At the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. González is a graduate fellow in the Project MALES Graduate Scholars Program and holds the TELACU Graduate Fellowship. Most recently, Dr. González was awarded the inaugural American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) Doctoral Student Award, the 2020 NASPA Latinx/a/o Knowledge Community Outstanding Doctoral Student award and named the 2020 NASPA Region VI Graduate Rising Star. Dr. González is an active participant in the American Educational Research Association (AERA), American College Personnel Association (ACPA), Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC), National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), among others.
