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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2011)
OREGON'S LGBTO NEWSMAGAZINE 4 MAX, Andrade has done voice work for G PS systems in high-end cars and for promotional videos for tourism in Belize, among other efforts. For his day job, he’s a court certified Spanish interpreter for the Oregon Judicial Department. H e’s also a regular actor at El Centro Milagro Theatre (or Miracle Theatre) in Southeast Portland. Andrade re cently starred in Ana en el Tropico (.Anna in the Tropics) and Entre Villa y una Mujer Desnuda (Between Pancho Villa and a Naked Woman). But some of his most meaningful work, he says, is done at the Metropolitan Community Church (M CC) of Port land, a congregation that welcomes LG B TQ jnem bers. “I t’s been the place where I’ve been able to reconcile my sexuality with my spirituality, and it continues to be a very enlightening journey,” he says. Andrade is now a regular volunteer at the church, but he first attended there with a heavy heart. After he turned 30, he was discouraged by the lack o f options available to men who were no longer in the twentysomething gay limelight. W ith that milestone, he thought most gay men somehow disappeared. “I felt called to M CC because I thought it would prob ably be a good place to learn how to die,” he says. “I’m not saying it’s a rational thought, but it was the initial thought.” Now, however, the voice of the MAX believes he has several im portant stops to make in his life. “I found there is something to look forward to in my thirties. And my forties. And my fifties,” Andrade says. “There is a process of growth.” 23_JS Vanessa La Torre, 30, can be a ball o f energy. During Port land Pride, she promoted Latino Gay Pride so feverishly— dancing and talking all weekend— that she literally lost her voice. “This is my body’s way o f telling me I need to relax," she says a week later. W hen La Torre can talk, she does it fast. She believes com munication is vital to the LGBTQ_Latino community, and she has a lot to say. La Torre works for Cascade AID S Project in the supportive services department, where she speaks with families who have members living with HIV. She helps people cope with any number of situations they may face. She also volunteers with Latino Gay Pride and is a co-chair of the Chicas CelebrAccion, an event created to foster net working opportunities for LGBTQ_Latinas in Portland. In all of these roles, she emphasizes the role o f community and its ability to encourage communication about important a lot o fL G B T Q L atin o s who weren’t able to have open discus issues— especially ones surrounding sexual health. She has sions with their families or the community in general. The been working in the sexual health field for more than a stigma o f being a sexual minority led some to sexual experi decade. mentation that would be risky, she says. A strong community is fundamental for individuals to make “People aren’t talking about healthy sexuality, especially in good decisions about sexual health, La Torre says. For the La the Latino community,” La Torre says. H er work with CA P tino population, family is key. That bond— the colloquial ex helps people learn to talk about healthy sexuality at different pression for it is ufamilismo," La Torre says— is what can help stages in life— conversations she says can help people overcome people when they’re in crisis. The community forms the pri barriers and form communities o f their own. ! • : mary support network. La Torre grew up in Southern California and says she knew — A aron S pencer Ron Tonkin Chevrolet 503-255-4100 b Year I 100,000 Warranty Zed CHEVROLET fed * v i CAM ARO THON Apoyo Latino Llám anos con tus preguntas o para p rog ra m a r una prueba de VIH . Todos tenem os un estatus de VIH/SIDA... ¿Conoces el tuyo? 2nd Annual 16 Available W e all have an HIV status...do you know yours? Starting at $22,988 Price based on 201^TÍamaro LS Stock#C0611428 Vin# BB919919 MSRP $23,770 Sales Price $22,988 after RTC discount $782 9 Models Over 30 MPG 2011 Cruze Eco 2011 Malibu LS 42MPG 33MPG Cascad« AIDS l^ro/act >CAR caicaaaaidi.org www.tonkinchevrolet.com > Linea de A p o yo Latino 1.8 0 0 .4 9 9 .6 9 4 0 MART/ DAVIS Vanessa La Torre walks the talk to help those in need —A aron S pencer Z7 latinogaypride ■ -------------- Latina Firecracker JULY 1. 2Oil t
