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Natalia Small

Professor K. Smith

BE 112

April 1, 2019

Analyization

In the article, “I Found A Home In Clubs Like Pulse In Cities Like Orlando” by

Rigoberto González he talks about how it feels to be a gay Latino in Orlando and how he finds

home in the clubs and through the music.

While he was in his twenties, his family moved back to Mexico but he decided to stay

behind because he knew they wouldn’t except him as a gay Latino. This made him feel

incomplete because of the love he had for his family and their homeland. Rigoberto states, “No

place is entirely safe, no building is a sanctuary. I have encountered violence and prejudice, or at

the very least exclusion, in every social space. Like home, like school, the gay club was another

complicated network of human interactions.” Yet, when he at any gay club he gains solace from

the communication that him and his immediate circle provides. They communicate by, “A kiss

on the cheek, a hand against the torso, and always an embrace. We hugged between dances and

pressed our bodies together on the crowded floor, sweat clashing into sweat.” He then goes on to

state that they learn this communication at home before they learn it at a club by dancing with his

mother, grandmother and assortment of aunts and cousins. This is true because our family is our

first source of comfort and love and dance to help cope with hard times.

Rigoberto furthers his statement by saying the best part about the clubs is the DJ

because, “He knew how to tap into the memory banks of our childhoods by surprising us with a
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cumbia, a merengue, a bachata and our bodies sprang into action because not only was our

muscle memory very familiar with the steps, it longed for them.” I believe that DJs know how to

pull nostalgic songs so that their audience can get a sense of comfort while they’re out dancing

around complete strangers and don’t have to worry about feeling on edge.

Works Cited

González, Rigoberto. “I Found A Home In Clubs Like Pulse In Cities Like Orlando.” BuzzFeed

News, BuzzFeed News, 16 June 2016,

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www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rigobertogonzalez/i-found-a-home-in-clubs-like-pulse-

in-cities-like-orlando#.wogYego34d.