Are there any specific cultural differences in the coming out process for Latina lesbians versus Euro-American lesbians?
Carla Trujillo: About twenty-two years ago Cherrie Moraga and I, as an example, started a group here on the U.C. Berkeley campus called “La Familia,” which helps Chicano/Latino students with coming out issues and support . . . and what we found out was that students were very afraid to come out to their families because they felt their families would disown them—and many families did. . . . There is a student I know whose mother was very resistant to get her into counseling, and [then] she got into counseling with an inappropriate counselor who thought she had a major illness, which she didn’t. She suffered tremendously because of it and her mother has finally come around. . . . We see some students who have parents who perhaps are more aware of the issues around sexuality and are a little more supportive; maybe they’ve done some reading or have seen it more in the media and so-forth. But there is still a lot that is not spoken, and many families don’t communicate about it at all. AS:
