We return now to our regularly scheduled Locura

In my otra persona, Tía Yona, I've been working on a collection of practical saints for xikan@s in the twenty-first century. Be warned that I read everything with a queer-centered lens, and have been inspired by other playful santeros, like Pat Mora, SaintsforSinners (who named San Sebastian the patron saint of body modification--all those piercings! and Saint Joan the patron of cross-dressers,...No, wait, maybe that was me), John Boswell, etc.

First, San Martín de Porres. Patron of hairdressers, mixed-race people, and vegetarians, and the homeless (human and animal). The image below is from the joint project by Anna Salinas and the Austin Latino Lesbian and Gay Organization, from their Lotería Jotería series. San Martin is often pictured with a broom, as his task at the monastery, was to sweep the doorways clean. I personally find you have to do a lot of reading against the grain with San Martín, since the Church's line has always been that he's an ideal role model: a Black man who knew his place. But Alex García Rivera has a cool book, St. Martín de Porres: The 'Little Stories' and the Semiotics of Culture, in which he shows how the little stories of humble San Martín offer a counter discourse to hierarchical church structure.



I wonder who would be the patron against the bird flu...