1 00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:04,640 Speaker 1: From Futuro Media and PRX. It's Latino USA. I'm Maria 2 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:08,800 Speaker 1: no Josa and today, my dear Latino USA listener, we 3 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:12,880 Speaker 1: have got something so special for you. We are about 4 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: to drop the first episode of our newest podcast from 5 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: Futuro Studios. It's been under wraps until now. Now when 6 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:25,439 Speaker 1: someone says, oh, that girl is my diva, you know 7 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: what that means. 8 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 2: Well, we're changing it up. Our podcast is called. 9 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:33,959 Speaker 1: My Divo and it's because it's about none other than 10 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: Juan Gabriel. It's an Apple original podcast about the legacy 11 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: of one of the biggest stars in Mexico and Latin 12 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:44,880 Speaker 1: America and in the entire Spanish speaking world, Juan Gabriel. 13 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 2: But this is also a podcast about roots. 14 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 1: In this eight episode series, available in both English and 15 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:53,560 Speaker 1: in Spanish. 16 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 2: That's right in Espanol. Right from this moment. 17 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 1: Our host Marie Gartci explores her own roots and her 18 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:05,319 Speaker 1: own queer identity through one GAVINID. Now you might remember 19 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:09,760 Speaker 1: Maria Garcia from another Futuro Studios podcast, Remember this one 20 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:14,319 Speaker 1: Anything for Selina. It was on multiple best of lists 21 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:18,520 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one. Well, Maria Garcia is back with 22 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: My Devo. Here is episode one. It's called the light 23 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 1: on my skin. 24 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:34,160 Speaker 3: Where I'm from, the sun shines a particular bright wash 25 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 3: of gold. You see, the brightness and angle of sunlight 26 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 3: depends on your place on Earth. My home lies about 27 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 3: thirty two degrees latitude, a position that allows for soft, 28 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 3: glowy mornings, blazing noons, and sunsets that look like they're 29 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 3: made out of caramel and lavender. When the warmth of 30 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 3: this light blankets my skin and my body knows I'm home. 31 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 3: That's because my mother and her mother and her mother 32 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 3: have all been cloaked by this same light, the one 33 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:16,240 Speaker 3: of a kind hue of the Chihuahuan desert that glistens 34 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:26,120 Speaker 3: over to Ahuadis and al Paso, Texas. On my mother's side, 35 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:28,839 Speaker 3: I can count up to seven generations who have been 36 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 3: born in this desert. I wonder which one of the 37 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:36,280 Speaker 3: generations first adopted the lessons that got passed down to me. 38 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 3: Lessons like the more feminine a woman is, the more 39 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 3: beautiful a woman should always be pursued and never ever pursue, 40 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 3: and naturally the ones doing the pursuing are men. Anything 41 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:58,360 Speaker 3: outside of that is unnatural. These lessons were easy to 42 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,519 Speaker 3: follow for me. At my young age, I loved all 43 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 3: things feminine, fashion, furls, pink, and boys. Yeah, it was 44 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 3: easy to like them too. I date a good number 45 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 3: of them from the time I was thirteen to my 46 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:16,520 Speaker 3: mid twenties. Around that time, this other part of me 47 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:21,520 Speaker 3: began waking up. I remember reading a book about seventeenth 48 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 3: century Mexican nun so Juan Nainez de la Cruse's imagined 49 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:30,800 Speaker 3: queer affairs and feeling a novel desire in my body. 50 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 3: I felt myself expand, craving a connection that was outside 51 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 3: the gender bounds of my upbringing. But I kept it 52 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 3: to myself. And then a woman kissed me in the 53 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 3: bathroom at a club, and I knew I couldn't brush 54 00:03:52,720 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 3: this feeling off anymore. I didn't want to god about 55 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 3: all the rules my mom had taught me. I fell 56 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:13,400 Speaker 3: in and out of love. I had a baby. Years later. 57 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:17,159 Speaker 3: I met someone, someone who was beyond a woman or 58 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 3: a man, and things felt the most right they ever had. 59 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 3: Like some who I just want us to like melt 60 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 3: into each other. 61 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:29,719 Speaker 2: That happens sometimes. 62 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:33,039 Speaker 3: So my life looks very different now than what my 63 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:38,480 Speaker 3: mom had imagined for me. My queerness now illuminates my life. 64 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:42,720 Speaker 3: As I raised my son back in the desert after 65 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:46,159 Speaker 3: years away, I want him to notice you, that's what 66 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 3: is the desert light. Are deep roots here, okay, if almost, 67 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 3: But I also want to prune those roots. I want 68 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 3: to shed the homophobia, the gender norms, these ingrained lessons 69 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:09,480 Speaker 3: I grew up with. That may sound simple, but it's 70 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 3: actually radical because when I was growing up, the message 71 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 3: my Mexican culture gave me was that it was dangerous, wrong, 72 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:24,680 Speaker 3: unnatural to love the way I do. But I know 73 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:30,159 Speaker 3: there's a way forward, a way of being Mexican that's 74 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 3: in harmony with my queerness. I know it because I've 75 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 3: seen it in Huanga Rielle. When my American friends ask 76 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 3: me about Huanga, I tell them that when he was young, 77 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:03,240 Speaker 3: Puanga had a hairy style, slash prince vibe, handsome, thematically 78 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:06,480 Speaker 3: provocative telegraphing, a reverence. 79 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 2: Queerness, Agusta. 80 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:13,679 Speaker 4: Agusta Kant. 81 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 3: And maybe in Huanga's later years he gave off a 82 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:20,840 Speaker 3: little bit of an Elton John energy, but more relevant 83 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:26,239 Speaker 3: and sexier. I can see him now koift thick black hair, 84 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:33,919 Speaker 3: coffee hued skin, bejeweled outfits, a soft, tender voice, too. 85 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 5: Yes, I. 86 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 3: Completely devoted to an audience that is total. Huanga was 87 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,320 Speaker 3: a prolific composer. By some estimates, he wrote more than 88 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 3: eighteen hundred songs, and his songs they're cannon like sacred text. 89 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 3: In Latin America, he sold more than one hundred million records. 90 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:02,600 Speaker 5: He wrote hit songs for other artists. 91 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 3: Pungga did recorded countless seismic ubiquitous hits from the early 92 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:12,520 Speaker 3: seventies to the twenty tens. He devoted his life to music. 93 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 4: I can consideras to mehor amiga ala musica. 94 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 3: Kuanga had a song for everything. His poetry was the 95 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 3: soundtrack to daily life. You want to tell your ex 96 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 3: in a gentle loving way that you have someone new, 97 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 3: Huanga has a song for that. 98 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: Benwieskinless times baus mina Mura. 99 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 3: You want to tell a booty call that they didn't 100 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 3: mean anything to you, Huanga has one for you too. 101 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:48,120 Speaker 1: Yes, that's Ben Sando Keesulfi and best joys that song 102 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:50,680 Speaker 1: Yando no snskin song. 103 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 3: You want to bask in hopefulness and the beauty of 104 00:07:54,360 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 3: the sun, Huanga has a song for that too. But 105 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:07,080 Speaker 3: what made him Huanga was that he could make his 106 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:12,160 Speaker 3: songs come alive on stage. To this day, there's a 107 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:16,520 Speaker 3: whole genre of reaction videos of people discovering the power 108 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 3: of Huanga's performances, like this YouTuber who goes by go 109 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 3: O t Games Loop. 110 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 2: Did you hear his voice break? 111 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 4: That's emotion, that's raw passion. 112 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 5: Listen. 113 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:38,520 Speaker 3: It was the way Huanga emoded, the way he performed 114 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 3: songs like there was an urgency in every lyric. His songs, 115 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 3: he'd say, are about real. 116 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:05,239 Speaker 2: Life experience, yes, half waiter, about. 117 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 3: Things he had to release when he was burning with feeling, 118 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:14,680 Speaker 3: and the songs there's this understated, elegant simplicity to his writing. 119 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:19,959 Speaker 3: He'd make you cry, feel grief so viscerally, and then 120 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:25,160 Speaker 3: he'd suddenly switched to flirty fun. There was a lightness 121 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:30,360 Speaker 3: to him and a bigness to him, a big queer exuberance, 122 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 3: the exact opposite of the macho ladies man. I mean, 123 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:38,719 Speaker 3: think about the other Mexican music icons who played with 124 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 3: Mariachis at that time, like Vicente Fernandez, a mustache oed 125 00:09:58,559 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 3: manly man with a deep singing about revenge and jealousy 126 00:10:02,679 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 3: and being a king. And here was sauce spoken Juangabriel 127 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 3: with his folded wrist, wearing a little makeup, singing about 128 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 3: the optimism of the sun rising every day. He revolutionized 129 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:33,280 Speaker 3: who could embody Mexico's most traditional music. He showed that 130 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:36,520 Speaker 3: the nation's music wasn't just for the masculine chatterls, the 131 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 3: Mexican cowboys and muted colors and tailored suits. No Hunga said, 132 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:51,920 Speaker 3: I'm gonna command this Mariacchi, but let's make it gay now. 133 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:54,400 Speaker 3: There was a time in the beginning of his career 134 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:58,400 Speaker 3: as a young pop star when the default assumption was 135 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:03,000 Speaker 3: that he was a straight me heart throb. Interviewers would 136 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:08,480 Speaker 3: ask him what his type of woman was. He always 137 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:12,520 Speaker 3: seemed to evade the question, answering something vague and cryptic. 138 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:14,400 Speaker 6: Like mohe. 139 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 3: Always a nobody truly marries anyone, You just choose someone. 140 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:29,200 Speaker 3: By the time I was growing up, the world had 141 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 3: caught on that Huanga was different than other pop stars. 142 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:35,959 Speaker 3: Even as a kid, I knew there was something subversive 143 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:40,199 Speaker 3: about Huanga. He was the very first queer person I 144 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:43,520 Speaker 3: knew of. I mean, I wasn't sure he was gay, 145 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:46,400 Speaker 3: but all the adults around me seem to assume he was, 146 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:51,200 Speaker 3: and interviewers alluded to it. For example, in this Mexican 147 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:55,400 Speaker 3: TV show, the announcer prefaced an interview with Huanga by 148 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:57,880 Speaker 3: saying some people had written to the program to say 149 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:02,800 Speaker 3: they found Huanga's demeanor offensiveson as. 150 00:12:02,679 --> 00:12:06,320 Speaker 7: A sinten of India's put through manaty. 151 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:11,199 Speaker 3: After years of media speculation about his sexuality, a reporter 152 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 3: famously asked Huanga outright on national television if he was gay. 153 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:20,200 Speaker 8: Lison, dear gay Lavena is gay? 154 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:28,959 Speaker 3: Liz Calkas Avena super go oh to this day, I 155 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:33,440 Speaker 3: love this answer. What can be seen shouldn't be asked? 156 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:41,439 Speaker 3: He said, like he wasn't hiding, but he refused to 157 00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 3: be a spectacle. A spectacle because we're talking about mainstream 158 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 3: media in Mexico in the eighties through the odds, this 159 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:51,439 Speaker 3: is the country with the second highest Catholic population in 160 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:54,800 Speaker 3: the world. Being queer wasn't as accepted as it is 161 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:58,400 Speaker 3: now in Mexico. For many of us, we heard our 162 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:03,640 Speaker 3: first gay slures and yoakes ever directed at Huanga. But 163 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 3: even though he represented something many Mexicans seem to hate, 164 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:12,559 Speaker 3: he was also revered and loved because his art was 165 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:17,160 Speaker 3: that good and he was so magnetic and. 166 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:21,440 Speaker 2: Real coram as dim. 167 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:27,160 Speaker 3: He talked about his human duty to be kind, humble, 168 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:30,640 Speaker 3: and divine. He'd always say how proud he was to 169 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:34,920 Speaker 3: be from Mexico, but he was especially proud to have 170 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 3: grown up in what Is. That made an impression on 171 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 3: me because I grew up hearing misconceptions about my city 172 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 3: of birth that it was all violent. 173 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:49,120 Speaker 2: In this video from Thursday, you can hear gunshots on 174 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:50,200 Speaker 2: a busy street in Quody. 175 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:53,000 Speaker 3: Mexico's defense ministry has said that it has centered on 176 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 3: two hundred military personnel to the northern border city of 177 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:56,880 Speaker 3: war Now. 178 00:13:56,880 --> 00:14:00,480 Speaker 6: To extra depth and perspective on the violence is joining 179 00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 6: us now is Louis with headlines that made it sound 180 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:05,439 Speaker 6: like the only thing worth reporting about in this corner 181 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:07,839 Speaker 6: of the world where Narco wars and murder. 182 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:22,720 Speaker 3: But to Huanga, what Is was beautiful. He sang about 183 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 3: what is a lot called at the border where God 184 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 3: should live? Look Sometimes, Huanga exaggerated, a bit can be 185 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:41,520 Speaker 3: a tough place to live, but his zeal for what 186 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:44,760 Speaker 3: Is served as an antidote for how much the city 187 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:48,360 Speaker 3: is snubbed and looked down upon. I love that this 188 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 3: quintessential symbol of Mexican identity. Is this queer man from 189 00:14:54,120 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 3: the fringes of the country, a gay fronterriso Mexico Mexican. 190 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:06,040 Speaker 3: I asked my mom, who was born and raised in 191 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:09,760 Speaker 3: what is why Huanga has become a symbol of Mexican 192 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:16,720 Speaker 3: identity bourgueznostro del pueblo denstro because he's ours of the people, 193 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:20,480 Speaker 3: she tells me. And over and over people have echoed 194 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 3: that sentiment that Juangabriel means something beyond himself, that there's 195 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:27,400 Speaker 3: something greater in his legacy. 196 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:30,720 Speaker 4: What does Guangabriel mean to me? 197 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:34,640 Speaker 8: The first time I've experienced pride as a gay Mexican man, 198 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 8: That's what he means to me. 199 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 2: He was almost like the music of my childhood that 200 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:39,520 Speaker 2: I grew up with. 201 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:42,320 Speaker 1: The first thing that comes to my mind is my 202 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 1: mother dancing in the living room all by herself. 203 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 7: For me, it just meant that somebody like me, who 204 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:52,680 Speaker 7: was also like him gay, could find himself in a 205 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:57,280 Speaker 7: place where we could transcend the homophobia in Mexico and 206 00:15:57,440 --> 00:15:58,320 Speaker 7: be respected. 207 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:00,400 Speaker 3: The way that I think of a lot of us 208 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:02,760 Speaker 3: is queer folks wish to be in the world is 209 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:04,320 Speaker 3: just to exist as who we are. 210 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:07,960 Speaker 8: He was just always that as someone who's not born 211 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:10,480 Speaker 8: and raised Mexican, he gives me a little bit of 212 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:12,760 Speaker 8: that connection because he's just been a part of my 213 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:14,880 Speaker 8: life in the background there for as long as I 214 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:15,400 Speaker 8: can remember. 215 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 4: To me, he means the border of Alpasso and Fares, 216 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:22,080 Speaker 4: but more broadly Mexico and the United States. 217 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:25,800 Speaker 8: Huanga to me means being true to who you are 218 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:30,200 Speaker 8: and not turning down your life, not turning off your 219 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:31,320 Speaker 8: life for anyone else. 220 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:35,360 Speaker 9: There are only very very few artists that come around 221 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:36,800 Speaker 9: like Juan Gabrielle. 222 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:40,520 Speaker 3: Once every fifteen years you see an artist like him. 223 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:52,560 Speaker 1: Hey, we're back and I'm going to turn it over 224 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:56,160 Speaker 1: once again to Marie Garcia for the first episode of 225 00:16:56,240 --> 00:16:58,880 Speaker 1: our new podcast series from Futuro Studios. 226 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:01,120 Speaker 2: It's called My Devot. 227 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:06,360 Speaker 3: Singing Dancing to Huanga with my mom and my cousins 228 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:18,639 Speaker 3: is when I feel peak Mexican love for Huanga runs 229 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:22,080 Speaker 3: deep in my home. My mom taught me to love him. 230 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 3: I've taught my son, your baby. Can I ask you something, 231 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:31,520 Speaker 3: who's your favorite singer right now? Junda Guana is your 232 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:35,800 Speaker 3: favorite singer right now? Look, my son is the first 233 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:39,120 Speaker 3: one in his line born in the us. But when 234 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,960 Speaker 3: I hear him karaoke huanga with my mom, I know 235 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 3: that he knows where he comes from. 236 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:49,440 Speaker 2: Ami Usa Mucho sad and apple Beta. 237 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:50,760 Speaker 5: Go good luck. 238 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:01,320 Speaker 3: It's a Sunday morning and I'm visiting my mom. She's 239 00:18:01,359 --> 00:18:05,840 Speaker 3: making breakfast. I'm catching up with her. Asking my mom 240 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:10,840 Speaker 3: about a concert she went to the night before. She 241 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:13,520 Speaker 3: jokes that she felt like getting up on stage, which 242 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:17,840 Speaker 3: is on brand for her, but was too scared to 243 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:26,960 Speaker 3: fall after I put some sauce on my tacos kerrico. Yes, 244 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:30,040 Speaker 3: I asked her. What I'm really here to find out? 245 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:31,800 Speaker 4: You taking. 246 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:49,040 Speaker 3: About the story of when she met Juan Gabriela. Yes, 247 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:53,359 Speaker 3: that Juan Gabriel. My mom went to the Juatis airport 248 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:57,240 Speaker 3: to pick someone up and she saw the commotion Juangabriel 249 00:18:57,359 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 3: had just arrived. She was star straight. He was her 250 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:04,840 Speaker 3: favorite artist. She wanted to go ask him for an autograph, 251 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:08,359 Speaker 3: but she was too shy. So like a movie scene, 252 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:11,760 Speaker 3: he noticed my mom from across the room, and instead 253 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 3: of paying attention to the gaggle of girls around him, 254 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:19,360 Speaker 3: he asked my mom, what about you? You don't want 255 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:28,320 Speaker 3: an autograph? My mom finally approached him and he told 256 00:19:28,359 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 3: her mid your eyes are so beautiful. Yeah, my mom 257 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:44,960 Speaker 3: says she didn't even want to wash her hand afterward 258 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:49,000 Speaker 3: because Huanga had touched it. And the magical part of 259 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 3: this story, the part that's become family lore. She says 260 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:54,800 Speaker 3: that soon after this encounter, he came out with his 261 00:19:55,000 --> 00:20:03,520 Speaker 3: song Soos, a banger about beautiful dark Mexican eyes like 262 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:05,680 Speaker 3: my mom's who SUPs mag. 263 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:09,960 Speaker 2: Gets on along for me. 264 00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:15,960 Speaker 3: And of course there's no proof that Huanga complimenting my 265 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:19,600 Speaker 3: mom's eyes and him writing this song have anything to 266 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,480 Speaker 3: do with each other, but we like to think so. 267 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:28,920 Speaker 3: In the song, Huangavriel admire someone's big, dark eyes. He 268 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:34,000 Speaker 3: calls them the inheritance of your beautiful parents. It feels 269 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:38,680 Speaker 3: like that's what I'm seeking in Huanga, an inheritance, something 270 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:41,399 Speaker 3: passed down to me that says, look, this is what 271 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:45,080 Speaker 3: it can look like to be fully Mexican and fully 272 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:56,359 Speaker 3: joyously queer. Reporting on Huanga has also forced me to 273 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:59,920 Speaker 3: look within, to look at my own family, my own room. 274 00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:05,120 Speaker 3: You see, I saw similarities between my mom's difficult upbringing 275 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:07,920 Speaker 3: and Huanga's own traumatic youth. 276 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:13,679 Speaker 4: He told me his mother sent one of his older 277 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:17,600 Speaker 4: brothers to hit him in order to get him out 278 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:20,920 Speaker 4: of the problem of being gay. 279 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:24,840 Speaker 3: Or when I looked into his complicated relationship with politics, 280 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:27,680 Speaker 3: it forced me to confront a dark story in my 281 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:32,720 Speaker 3: own family history. My body passed into a memory. I 282 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:37,240 Speaker 3: finally know something dark went down here. Or as I 283 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:41,120 Speaker 3: uncovered details about Huanga's journey as a queer person in Mexico, 284 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 3: I had to think about what it looks like for 285 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,320 Speaker 3: me to be gay and Mexican. 286 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:50,480 Speaker 5: I think Mexico is a gay country, but. 287 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:53,160 Speaker 1: We are liars. 288 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:58,240 Speaker 3: We've uncovered details about Huanga's life that have never come 289 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 3: to light, and you'll find things out about him that 290 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:08,920 Speaker 3: will change what you think you know. Okay, Hags argionas 291 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 3: Jalisco Shock. You'll hear his story in a way that's 292 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:17,720 Speaker 3: never been told. We'll be focusing on key moments in 293 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 3: his life and legacy, from the slums of what is 294 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:22,800 Speaker 3: to worldwide stardom. 295 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 9: Are you I guess? 296 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:36,119 Speaker 3: But this is not a straight biography podcast. You can 297 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:40,520 Speaker 3: find Huangas story in plenty of places. Now. This is 298 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:45,040 Speaker 3: a story about beauty, the beauty of being queer, the 299 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:49,920 Speaker 3: beauty of being soft, the beauty of being us. Even 300 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:52,280 Speaker 3: if the world would rather we not be. 301 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:10,520 Speaker 9: I see a bunch of kres, I see a mountain, 302 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:14,920 Speaker 9: I see cat. This is a tiny little one right 303 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:17,119 Speaker 9: here at the edge of the mountain. 304 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:20,399 Speaker 3: One of my favorite things to do with Kile my 305 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:21,560 Speaker 3: son is. 306 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:25,280 Speaker 9: To hike and a tiny little kreiso on the side 307 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:29,200 Speaker 9: of the mountain. He also loves recording to capture the 308 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:32,040 Speaker 9: great sound of nature, but also just to. 309 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 3: Make funny voices. Yeah, you're funny. The luminous desert sun 310 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:49,760 Speaker 3: enrapts us as we stand in al Paso looking at Huatas, 311 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:54,200 Speaker 3: a few miles away, where Huangaverie had once lived, where 312 00:23:54,440 --> 00:24:00,320 Speaker 3: our family also comes from. Did you know that mounting 313 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:05,360 Speaker 3: you There have been five generations of our family who 314 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:11,960 Speaker 3: have lived between these two mountains. Yeah, all of that 315 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:16,359 Speaker 3: is you. That quartis where mom and I was born, 316 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:18,560 Speaker 3: where her mom on Nanna came to when she was 317 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:21,760 Speaker 3: really young, Where my great grandmother. 318 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:23,440 Speaker 9: She's lived sixty one years. 319 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:29,360 Speaker 3: She's pretty old. Sixty one is not old, buppy. As 320 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:32,440 Speaker 3: I joke with my son about my mom's age. We're 321 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:36,280 Speaker 3: watching the sunlight drape over a mountain range in Sua Quartas, 322 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:42,080 Speaker 3: and this feels right because remember when my mom said 323 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:45,880 Speaker 3: Juan Gavrielle felt like he was of the people. When 324 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:48,200 Speaker 3: my mom told me that my son was listening to 325 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:50,200 Speaker 3: us and he had a question. 326 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:58,840 Speaker 9: And dibblo, what is that? 327 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:03,159 Speaker 3: What does it mean to be of a people? I 328 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:05,760 Speaker 3: guess that's what I'm thinking too, what does it mean 329 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:09,960 Speaker 3: to be of a people? I want my son Hiel 330 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:13,640 Speaker 3: to have the answer to that question, to know he's 331 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:16,280 Speaker 3: connected to the what is? My mom and I come 332 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:21,280 Speaker 3: from the what is? Juan Gabrielle came from the what 333 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:27,359 Speaker 3: is drenched in the same golden sunlight that our skin recognizes. 334 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 3: I'm Maria Garcia and this is my Deevo, a podcast 335 00:25:36,880 --> 00:26:01,000 Speaker 3: about roots. Coming up on episode two, we take you 336 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:06,000 Speaker 3: to the Club, a Huaris club, glitzy and gritty where 337 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:07,240 Speaker 3: Huanga got his start. 338 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:11,880 Speaker 5: Here in knock my Door, he say hey, I want 339 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:17,280 Speaker 5: you You hear a new song and I say, I 340 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:18,480 Speaker 5: gotta big hangover. 341 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:23,320 Speaker 3: And two dark secrets, one from Huanga's life and one 342 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:34,520 Speaker 3: from my own. That's all coming up in the next episode. 343 00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:45,320 Speaker 3: My Devo is an Apple original podcast produced by Futuro Studios. 344 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:49,680 Speaker 3: This episode was written and reported by me Maria Garcia. 345 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:54,159 Speaker 3: Our senior producer is Fernanda e Chavari. The show is 346 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:59,320 Speaker 3: produced by Nicole Rothwell, Gini Montalvo, Lili Reese, Joaquin Coutler, 347 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:05,480 Speaker 3: Tash Sandol and Alicia Fernandez. Our editor is Marlon Bishop. 348 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:11,840 Speaker 3: Spanish adaptation by Ezequiel Rodriguez Andino and Fernando Ernandez Besserra. 349 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:16,480 Speaker 3: Our senior production managers are Nicole Rothwell and Jessica Ellis, 350 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:22,040 Speaker 3: with post production support from Nancy Trujillo. Mixing by Stephanie Lebau, 351 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:28,120 Speaker 3: Julia Caruso and Gabriela Biaz. Fact checking by Nidia Bautista. 352 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:32,760 Speaker 3: Our original music is by Paul Weitkiz, scoring and musical 353 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:37,720 Speaker 3: curation by Stephanie Lebau. Our executive producers are Marlon Bishop 354 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:42,720 Speaker 3: and Me. Legal review by Neil Rossini, Adrian Ojeda Cuevas, 355 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:49,480 Speaker 3: Jimenajurigi and Sergio Gomez. Futuro Media was founded by Maria Inojosa. 356 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:55,080 Speaker 3: Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts. I'm Maria Garcia. Thank 357 00:27:55,119 --> 00:27:56,760 Speaker 3: you for listening. See you next time.