Drago Renteria

Dragonsani "Drago" Renteria is a deaf Chicano transgender man, CEO of DeafVision, and long-time resident of San Francisco.

Dragonsani "Drago" Renteria
Renteria giving the keynote speech at the Northwest Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf [NWRAD] Lifestyle Leadership Camp, 2006.

Additionally, he is the founder and executive director of Deaf Queer Resource (DQRC). He is an LGBTQ/social justice activist, community leader, educator, editor, historian, and artist. He spearheaded many DeafQueer advocacy efforts and took charge, in various capacities, of several LGBTQ organizations.

Early life and education

Renteria was born in El Paso, Texas. His mother came out as a lesbian when he was 12 years old. He is of Mexican and Italian heritages and grew up in the Chicano culture. Growing up, his first language was Spanish. He contracted spinal meningitis when he was 11 and, after two days of high fever, became deaf.

He came out as a lesbian in the late 1970s when he was 12 and transitioned from female to male in the late 1990s, one of the first deaf people known to have done so.[1]

He attended Gallaudet University for two years (1986 to 1988) where he was president of the student LGBTQ group, the Lambda Society of Gallaudet University, Chief Justice of the Student Body Government, occupied various positions with the Buff & Blue, the school newspaper, and involved with Hispanos Unidos en Gallaudet, before transferring to the University of California at Berkeley (UCB) and graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1993.

While at UCB, he was involved in a motorcycle accident which left him with a back disability. This led him to advocate for greater awareness of hidden disabilities.

Career

Social justice activism

"I'm an activist because I believe we all have a responsibility to be agents of social change."

It was at Gallaudet that Renteria first discovered and "understood the power of organizing."[1] He has since then been involved in causes related to anti-gentrification and housing rights, particularly those affecting Latinos and other people of color. He has served on the boards of FTM International, Transgender Law Center, Youth Gender Project, Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf, and California Center for Law and the Deaf. He has given workshops, presentations and keynote speeches across the country including Asterisk Trans* Conference, Transgender Leadership Summit at the University of California, Berkeley, Deaf Gays and Lesbians of the West Conference, Creating Change Conference, and National Association of the Deaf Conference. In his capacity as a historian, he founded and coordinates the National Deaf LGBTQ Archives from 1993 to present; he "has already dedicated [32] years (since 1986) to accruing an archival collection and recordings of interviews with Deaf Queer People for his upcoming book of Deaf Queer History."[2]

Online entrepreneurship and advocacy

As CEO of DeafVision, one of the first deaf-owned Internet companies, and founder and executive director since 1995 of Deaf Queer Resource Center (DQRC), one of the first deaf-related websites on the web, he has spearheaded several deaf, especially deaf LGBTQIA, representation efforts online. While working as director of the Deaf Gay and Lesbian Center (DGLC) from 1992 to 1995, a now-defunct outreach program of Deaf Counseling, Advocacy and Referral Agency (DCARA) that had served only deaf LGBTQ in the San Francisco Bay Area, he has mentioned in an interview that his stint there has made him come to a realization that "the people who needed support the very most were deaf LGBTs who did not reside in big cities like San Francisco."[3] He envisioned the need for and established a similar organization but one that operates on a national level to best reach out and serve deaf LGBTQIA people in different states. DQRC was thus founded.

"While working at DGLC, it became evident to me that our community needed services on a national level. At about this time, the Internet was beginning to take off and I realized it could serve as an invaluable tool for providing resources and support nationwide. It could also serve as a tool for empowering our community. I envisioned a virtual community center online."[3]

He also created the very first websites not just for deaf LGBTQ people, but also the very first website for deaf women (Deaf Women Resources), the deaf leather community (Deaf Leather Dungeon), and the deaf Latinx community (Deaf Aztlan). Many deaf LGBTQ organizations online prior to 2005 have their websites hosted on DeafVision.

He is also founder and coordinator of the National Deaf LGBTQ Archives from 1993 to present, editor of DCARA News from 1995 to 1996, director of Deaf Gay & Lesbian Center (DGLC) from 1992 to 1995, and founder, publisher and editor of Coming Together Newsletter (CTN) from 1991 to 1995.

Photography

He is a photojournalist for El Tecolote since 2015. He covers issues that affect Latinx and other people of color in the Mission District. His significant published works involve documentation of evidence of gentrification in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Publications and mentions

Renteria has been mentioned and quoted in several publications, most recently in Innovations in Deaf Studies: The Role of Deaf Scholars[2] (edited by Annelies Kusters, Maartje De Meulder, and Dai O'Brien):

"Hearing queer historians and Deaf straight historians have often deemed us unworthy of inclusion in their history books." In addition, he saw "virtually no published literature produced by Deaf LGBTQ People of Color." [...] "After realizing that both Deaf history books and LGBTQ history books were not documenting our history, I made a commitment to begin doing so."

The 1993 anthology Eyes of Desire: A Deaf Gay & Lesbian Reader includes a poem by Renteria.[4] Other publications where he is noted include J. Harrison Fitch's Out's Gay & Lesbian Guide to the Web[5] (1997), Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper's The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals[6] (2008), and Lee Harrington's Traversing Gender: Understanding Transgender Realities[7] (2016).

Selected awards and honours
  • 2019 Changemakers, Disability Changemakers[8]
  • Laurent Clerc Award, Gallaudet University, 2018[9]
  • Trailblazer Award, DeafHope, 2015[10]
  • 41 Latin@ LGBTQ role models, 2015[11]
  • Honorary Grand Marshall, Seattle LGBT Pride, 2006
  • Appreciation Award, Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf, 2005
  • DCARA Hal Ramger Distinguish Service Award, 2003
  • Appreciation Award, Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf, 2003
  • LGBT Local Hero Award, KQED San Francisco, 2002
  • Community Service Award, San Francisco Board of Supervisors, 2002
  • Appreciation Award, California State Assembly, 2002
  • Woman of the Year Award, Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf, 2001
  • Deaf Queer Role Model, Youth Advocates, 2000
  • Leadership Award, Rainbow Lambda Society of the Deaf, 1999
  • Baltimore Leather Association of the Deaf Life Brother Emeritus, 1998
  • Grand Marshall, San Francisco Freedom Day Parade, 1995
  • Special Recognition Award, San Francisco Board of Supervisors, 1993
  • Leadership Award, Lambda Society of Gallaudet University, 1987

The Drago Renteria Commitment to the LGBTQA Community Award

Every year, the LGBTQA Resource Center at Gallaudet University hosts the Lavender Graduation ceremony where graduating students who identify as part of the LGBTQIA community, advocates, allies, and role models are awarded for recognition of their efforts and contributions to promotion of equity, diversity, and inclusion for LGBTQIA-identified members on campus. The Drago Renteria Commitment to the LGBTQA Community Award is "the highest honor [...] awarded to an undergraduate or graduate student, typically a member of the graduating class, who has performed extraordinary service and outstanding leadership in helping to strengthen the LGBTQA+ community by encouraging awareness and understanding around LGBTQA+ issues and identities at Gallaudet University and in the wider Deaf community."[12]

Personal life

Renteria has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1989 and in the Mission since 1999. He lives with his long-time partner, Jennifer Mantle, a freelance ASL interpreter, priestess, and minister of herchurch, and their service dog, Magnus, a Schnoodle[1][13]

References
  1. Karlsson, Jessika (July 26, 2018). "A Deaf Chicano's journey to love, LGBT activism". El Tecolote. Retrieved 2019-06-20.
  2. Kusters, Annelies, editor. De Meulder, Maartje, editor. O'Brien, Dai, editor. Innovations in deaf studies : the role of deaf scholars. ISBN 9780190612184. OCLC 1005080469.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. "Interview with Dragonsani Renteria, DQRC Founder". www.deafqueer.org. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
  4. Renteria, Dragonsani (1993). "Rejection". In Luczak, Raymond (ed.). Eyes of desire : a deaf gay & lesbian reader. Alyson Publications. ISBN 1555832040. OCLC 27936063.
  5. Fitch, J. Harrison (1997). Out's gay & lesbian guide to the web. Lycos Press. ISBN 0789710595. OCLC 1050006341.
  6. Brill, Stephanie A. (2008). The transgender child : a handbook for families and professionals. Cleis. ISBN 1573443182. OCLC 254321070.
  7. Harrington, L. (2016). Traversing Gender : Understanding Transgender Realities. Mystic Productions Press. ISBN 9781942733812. OCLC 1055420843.
  8. "Disability Changemakers". Disability Changemakers. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  9. "Clerc Award". www.gallaudet.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  10. "Deaf-Hope". Deaf-Hope.org.
  11. Honor41Tv (2015-12-16), The 41 List: Drago Renteria (2015), retrieved 2019-04-14
  12. "Nominations wanted for annual Lavender Graduation awards | my.Gallaudet". my.gallaudet.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  13. "Rochester, NY: "The T in LGBT: A Journey from Female to Male"". Planet DeafQueer. Retrieved 2019-06-20.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.