I Was a Stranger, Day 2: Alexis Isabel Moncada

Today I want to focus on Latinx people, because it's breaking my heart to see how many Latin Americans are being nabbed by ICE and put in detention centers to be deported (or fear that happening). Families are being torn apart, and so many people in our country fear for their livelihoods and loved ones.

The same law of love applies to those of us born here and those of us who immigrated here. What kind of a free, democratic USA shuts its doors and kicks people out with no regard for their lives? What kind of Christians support this approach? In what book did Jesus say we should kick people out or not let them in? I find it shameful.

Today I searched for Latinx writers. Do you know this word, Latinx, or Latinex? This is what it means, from Jack Qu'emi: "The x [in Latinx], is a way of rejecting the gendering of words to begin with, especially since Spanish is such a gendered language."

I found Alexis Isabel Moncada, who created the trending #GiveEllaAGirlfriend" hashtag after sharing her own story about growing up being confused about her sexuality:

"Many in the LGBT community view this movie as a metaphor for the experience of coming out and accepting who you are. Yet Elsa, the film's protagonist, will probably end up with a male prince or king in the upcoming Frozen sequel. These thoughts soon drenched my mind and pushed me to tweet about how “iconic” it would be if Frozen's Elsa were cast alongside a princess instead."

Well, who knows if Elsa will have a girlfriend in Frozen 2 (which doesn't come out until 2019), BUT. just this week it was announced that Disney will have its first officially out gay character in the upcoming "Beauty and the Beast" movie. And I'll just bet that Alexis Isabel Moncada had something to do with it. That's activism for you!

Want to read more Latinx voices? Check out this list of best 15 Latinx books of 2016. I know I'll be putting many of them to my reading list!

Nick and Natalia

Latinx Americans and immigrants add so much to our communities and country. I work with a wicked-smart, kind, principled, amazing Costa Rican woman, who can talk circles around me in her second language. And a few years ago my church, Spirit of Grace, had a part-Mexican intern pastor for a year. We all grew to love their family deeply and we miss them tremendously, Nicholas especially (he adored their daughter Natalia)! (They now live in San Diego.) Our community was deeply enriched by their presence, just as our country is enriched by all Mexicans, Central Americans, and South Americans who are living in the U.S. Let's make them feel welcome and extend all the support we can right now.

Read more of my "I Was a Stranger" entries here.