Nancy Cárdenas (1934-1994) was an actor, poet, and writer. She was also the first queer person to come out on live television in Mexico.
Nancy Cárdenas (1934-1994) was an actor, poet, and writer. She was also the first queer person to come out on live television in Mexico.
Special thanks to our exclusive Pride Month sponsor, Mercedes-Benz! Mercedes-Benz continues to support and stand with the LGBTQIA+ community. Listen all month long as we celebrate women whose authentic expression in their lives and bodies of work have expanded the norms of gender and sexuality in the performing arts.
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Womanica.
This month we’re highlighting queer stars of the stage and screen: women who expanded the norms of gender and sexuality behind the scenes and in the limelight.
Today we’re talking about the first queer person to come out on live TV in Mexico. She was an actor, a poet and writer. And she also founded the first gay organization in Mexico. Please join me in welcoming Nancy Cárdenas..
Nancy was born on May 29, 1934 in Parras de la Fuente, Mexico. She described her hometown as “a 400-year-old small town with a million trees, 20 thousand people and only one access road."
Nancy was passionate about education. She pursued a degree and a Ph.D. in the dramatic arts at National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City. She arrived at university with liberal views and became increasingly involved in organizing for political causes. She joined the communist party. And soon, she was handing out pamphlets and speaking at party rallies.
Nancy continued her education at Yale University studying film and theater. And then, she moved to Lodz, Poland to study Polish language and literature.
Throughout her studies, Nancy stayed busy writing plays. And her travels helped her meet lesbians and queer people across the world. She often took inspiration from these interactions, working queer themes into her writing.
After Nancy’s time in Europe, she returned to Mexico City where she got a job working in radio. At first she worked on the production side, and later she became an actress. She also served as the coordinator for the University’s cinema club.
Around this time, Nancy was getting more involved in the student movement sweeping Mexico. In 1968, she was arrested because of her participation in the student protests against police violence.
In 1970, she collaborated with her writer-activist friend Carlos Monsivais. They translated, directed, and produced Paul Zindel’s play “The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds''. Her contributions won her first place from the Asociación de críticos de teatro.
As Nancy’s work was receiving more acclaim, she was also becoming more outspoken about queer identity and issues. By this point, she had developed a queer circle of friends and writers with whom she discussed queer issues and identity in Mexico.
Finding this community galvanized Nancy. And in 1973, she made an announcement, live on national television. Renowned TV reporter Jacobo Zabludovsky invited her to appear on his popular show, 24 Horas, or 24 Hours. While they were discussing homosexuality and gay liberation, Nancy revealed that she was a lesbian.
Though many were already aware of Nancy’s sexuality, her decision to announce it on national television was groundbreaking. She was suddenly the most visible queer person in the country. Homophobia was still rampant in Mexico. When she shared her sexuality with the public, homosexuality was still listed as a psychiatric disorder by the American Psychiatric Association.
The following year, riding on momentum of her declaration, she founded the Frente de Liberación Homosexual. It was the first gay organization in Mexico. She continued organizing for queer causes. And she collaborated with Carlos Monsiváis, Juan Jacobo Hernández and Luis González de Alba, to write the 1975 Manifesto in Defense of Homosexuals in Mexico.
In yet another first, Nancy led the first pride march in Mexico in 1978 at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas – a main square in Mexico City.
In March 1994, Nancy passed away from breast cancer. The Nancy Cárdenas Latin American and Mexican Lesbian Documentation and Historical Archives Center was named in her honor. Nancy is remembered for her relentless activism for not only queer causes, but causes of marginalized folks of all sorts of backgrounds.
In a posthumous open letter to Nancy, her friend Carlos Monsivais wrote: “An activist by vocation and temperament, you weren't worried about What They'd Say, you didn't even consider it. Now I know that you were not a provocateur, as I sometimes felt at that time but, strictly, a defender of human and civil rights, first of all for those of your specific minority, but also for other causes.”
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Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!