Julieta Venegas

Is she gay? Is she not a lesbian? I think so...but I've realized that most of my posts have been about my 101 project, and since my eyes have been hurting a bit from all the tv watching, I've decided to deviate a bit from it and go on to a couple other topics that I happen to love! Spanish music! and Lesbian speculation!

One of my favorite singers in any language is Julieta Venegas. Her music is stupendous, her style impeccable, and her face... beautiful. Although born and raised in Long Beach, CA, this Mexican-American singer sings Spanish pop and rock songs. They touch on a range of subjects, and her duets with other Spanish singers are even better. Honestly, I could start listing my favorite songs of hers for you to listen to, but just listen to any of them and you'll love it. The beats are irresistible even if you don't know the language.

So, why am I talking about her? Just to use a new venue to tell the world of her awesome-ness? A little bit, yes. But! Also to do a little speculation about Julieta Venegas' "potential" as Telemachus Two likes to put it. While there isn't much evidence that she's gay, there isn't much evidence that she isn't. Of course, if she was, I don't think she would ever come out. A Hispanic female out of the closet, in the spanish world might not sell so many records. But, that wouldn't mean that she's not! So why do I think she might be gay? Well, let me count the ways:

1. She's been credited to being pretty big on gay rights. Of course, that could just mean that she's an advocate, or it could just mean that she is an "advocate." She was in the Latino Gay Festival in LA, and was quoted saying. "Pues nos invitó la organización y nosotros felices, yo feliz de venir aquí con la comunidad gay a hacer una fiesta, yo creo que es importante que cada vez tenga más lugar la comunidad gay, tanto aquí en Estados Unidos la latina, como en todos lados, en México también creo que es una comunidad que merece su lugar, como cualquier otra comunidad y yo creo que estamos buscando lo mismo en la vida y cada vez la sociedad va aceptando más el hecho de que hay gente en la diversidad, creo que la diversidad es muy natural del mundo, es parte del ser humano." For you non-spanish speakers. In this she is saying that it's important to get involved with gay rights and that WE are looking the same out of life and every day, society is getting more accepting. That's right, she said "estamos" (we are) not "ellos estan" (they are). Now, this could just be semantics, and I need to sit down and breathe in a brown paper bag, but I do think it is a tip off that something queer is going on.

2. She did the soundtrack for Quemar Las Naves. A gay Mexican movie about a boy in a small town and crazy family. The fact that she would lend herself to such a work is once again another indicator of her pro-gay leanings. Which is fantastic, but also like i said...

3. Her latest album, Nuevo Y Raro (new and different) has a lot of songs that has a lesbian undertone. "Illusion" with Marisa Monte is duet where they are both talking about chances (or girls) that got away because they didn't act in time. Marisa sings her part in Portuguese and Julieta in Spanish, and I don't care what they say, when I first heard that song I thought the lyrics were about the two girls singing about each other. "Perfecta" with Miranda is undeniably a lesbian song. Legit. It's gay. Once again, both girls are singing about each other. Both are talking about how they are perfect for each other. To roughly translate, a few of the lyrics sung say " even though we knew what we were doing wrong, we didn't stop until we we both were done, and when we finally realized what we were doing... I just continued kissing you," "maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be your other half," " how is it that it changed? you were my friend and now your my girlfriend" etc. Yes. this was all a part of the song. Sure, there are some gender neutral pronouns thrown around in a couple places but, when you have two girls singing lyrics like those... I'm going to need convincing otherwise. "Mi Principio" is not a duet, but the theme song for Quemar Las Naves. In this song, she talks about leaving because there is nothing else there for her, she can't live her life in that small place. She has to burn her bridges to be who she is. Leaving will be her renewal. Need I say more?

4. Those are just her newer material. Her older songs aren't so blatant, but definitely have raised a few questions. "Limon y Sal" and "Andar Conmigo" are the two that have mostly done that. While I actually did not really see anything telling with Limon y Sal, a friend of mine pointed out the fact that she's basically saying that she only likes the person she is singing too when she is drunk (limon y sal), and that is the only time those two can be together. Andar Conmigo did raise my gaydar with the music video. There's a couple lesbian couples in it, and over all... there are some gay undertones.

5. She is very private with her personal life. Of course, she might just not enjoy the spotlight, or she might just not want her business all out in the open.

6. Almost all her songs are gender neutral! Seriously, they almost all are. Some aren't...but most are gender neutral.

So is Julieta Venegas gay? I think so. Or at least, I certainly hope so. She would do great things for the gay community, especially in Latin America. Of course, there is also the downside. She could just be type casted as a "gay artist" and lose her huge fan base. Honestly, if that were the case, I'd rather have her in the closet giving out clues, rather than out of the closet, but just becoming just another lesbian singer, rather than a singer who is gay. Frankly, I don't think we are there yet, where that wouldn't happen. I mean, who doesn't remember what happened to the RBD (latino teen pop group) when one of their members came out of the closet? Everyone flipped.

So, while we may not know for a while. For the time being, I will satisfy my craving with her music and tons of speculating to anyone I know who listens to her.