BUZZ
Speaker focuses on ‘gender fluidity,’ particularly in Indigenous communities
Just days after Easter, the Catholic University of San Diego will play host to an LGBT activist who will discuss the topic of “queering spirituality.”
The theology department, along with the student government, campus ministry, and an LGBT group on campus have invited Juan Angel Reynoso to speak on April 9, the Thursday after Easter.
According to the university’s announcement, Reynoso “is shlaa (Two-Spirit) Ipai-Kumeyaay from the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians.” He also uses the term “nemuuly,” or “bear,” to identify himself.
The news release further explains:
A Two-Spirit storyteller, educator and community builder, Juan centers the voices and experiences of Indigenous and Queer communities across time—past, present and future.
As Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of The Queer Sol Collective, Juan works to cultivate belonging, healing and connection within 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. This conversation invites us to reflect on how we find, create and redefine “home” within ourselves, our communities, and our faith traditions.
Reynoso’s daytime job is working with deaf children, according to a profile by the Los Angeles Public Library in 2023. His personal website indicates he still works with “deaf and hard of hearing children.”
In the same interview, he provided more information on “gender fluidity” and what it means to be “Two-Spirit.”
He said in the interview:
While many may choose to use this as an identifier, we are not a monolith, and as sovereign nations with cultural specificity, we may have our specific words or terminology to express gender, gender fluidity, and queerness within their specific communities within our languages. For example, as a Kumeyaay person, we use the term Ipai Hellyaa (ee-pie, Shlaa) to represent gender variation outside of the gender binary. When I identify myself to other Kumeyaay people or say, I am Ipai hellyaa, 2Spirit Kumeyaay from San Pasqual.
Reynoso said his identity allows him to “relate and engage both the feminine and masculine energies that we all carry within ourselves.”
He said “two-spirit people” can fight through the “shame” and “heteronormativity” in some communities.
Reynoso also shared his views on Catholicism and its role in Indigenous communities, saying:
Many of our communities have strong Christian and Catholic values. It’s important to recognize that prior to contact, specifically through the Franciscan Missions, our people already had a relationship with the Creator. Now, how we define Creator or Creation is where we’ve gotten stuck. As I said earlier, advocacy is about restoring connection through intentional conversation and reminding people about counter perspectives. As it relates to LGBTQIA+ advocacy and visibility, it is about having the courage to push back on perspectives that are really not that new.
While Catholic, the University of San Diego has a history of promoting practices at odds with the Catholic Church.
For example, it covers abortions in its health plans, claiming in 2023 that federal and state law requires it.
The student government previously denied funding for a talk by Daily Wire host Matt Walsh, saying his views were “not aligned” with the values of the student representatives.
