headshot of Salvador Vidal-Ortiz

Salvador Vidal-Ortiz

Salvador Vidal-Ortiz of American University will address how the term Latinx has become both a source of solidarity and contention at 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 30, in Schroeder Hall, room 130.

Part of Latinx Heritage Month at Illinois State University, the event is free, open to the public, and sponsored by the LGBT/Queer Studies and Services Institute, Latin American and Latino/a Studies, and the Organization of Latino/a Employees.

An associate professor of sociology, Vidal-Ortiz will discuss how the articulation of Latina/o/x populations through the term Latinx becomes a source of possibilities. Focusing on queer Latinx identities, the lecture addresses the logics of inclusion from activist on the x for LGBTQ+ and non-gendered purposes.

Vidal-Ortiz’s scholarship cuts across racialization, sexuality, gender, migration, and religion, and is interdisciplinary. He co-edited two award-winning books, The Sexuality of Migration and Queer Brown Voices, and also co-authored Race and Sexuality.

Within the American Sociological Association, Vidal-Ortiz has served as convener of the Sociology of the Body and Embodiment section, is past chair of the Sexualities Section, and currently serves as editorial board member for Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, from the Race and Ethnic Minorities section. In 2018, he served as tri-chair for ASA’s Sexualities Section Pre-conference: Sexualities, Race, and Empire: Resistance in an Uncertain Time. He has also been an editorial board member for TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly.

Vidal-Ortiz continues Fulbright-based research on displacement and LGBT people in Bogotá, Colombia.

For any additional information, please contact the Latin American and Latino/a Studies program.