人兽性交

MONTGOMERY, Ala. 鈥� On Monday, July 27, the Southern Poverty Law Center鈥檚 (人兽性交) Teaching Tolerance project will release its latest classroom film, 鈥淏ibi鈥� 鈥� a story told about the intersection of family, identity and belonging through the perspective of a gay, Latinx man and his father. The film will be accompanied by six lessons for grades 6-12 to help students engage with the challenges of moving between languages, places and societal expectations.

The 18-minute film, executive produced by the 人兽性交, is inspired by the true story of lead actor J.M. Longoria and his relationship with his father. As a child, J.M. had a difficult time expressing himself. So his father would say, 鈥淚f you can't speak it, write it.鈥� As a result, they communicated via letter writing for many years, often discussing topics that were difficult to talk about in person. Longoria co-wrote the script with filmmaking partner Victor Due帽as, the film鈥檚 director. Edward Enriquez-Cohen produced and executive produced the film along with Vanessa Perez who served as producer on the project as well. Additionally, social justice advocate M贸nica Ram铆rez (Justice for Migrant Women) is an executive producer. The film also stars Omar Leyva and Oscar nominee Adriana Barraza.

鈥淎s a former educator, it has been my honor to co-create our film 鈥楤ibi鈥� with J.M. Longoria, a story that celebrates letter writing and presents it as an alternative way of talking about difficult topics between young people and their parents,鈥� states director Victor Due帽as. 鈥淎s an openly gay Latino man, I cannot thank the Teaching Tolerance program enough for making our film available to all its members across the country during these trying times. May our film inspire a new generation of letter writers everywhere.鈥�

Longoria said: 鈥淚 feel like I'm still in a dream. It was incredible to co-develop my personal story with Victor Due帽as into our short film 鈥楤ibi鈥�, but to have it then executive produced and released by the Southern Poverty Law Center is a true honor. I never would have imagined that sharing my story could help someone express their truth or maybe even save their life. And to anyone who watches 鈥楤ibi,鈥� please know that if you can't speak it, write it.鈥�

The classroom lessons, divided into one three-part series for grades 6-8 and another for grades 9-12, use the characters in 鈥淏ibi鈥� as a reference point to explore their personal and social identities and to examine how these relate to the concepts of intersectionality, privilege and oppression. Students will explore how writing letters, an important form of communication throughout the film, can facilitate productive conversations. Through the lessons, students are also encouraged to write a letter to Bibi鈥檚 father Ernesto, explaining what they learned and why it is important.

鈥淭ogether, the film and accompanying classroom lessons will be powerful resources for those who work to help young people honor their own and others鈥� unique identities,鈥� said Monita Bell, interim co-director and managing editor for the Teaching Tolerance project.

鈥淔rom the first moment I read 鈥楤ibi鈥� I was moved to my core and I knew in my soul that we had to bring this story to life,鈥� comments producer/executive producer Edward Enriquez-Cohen. 鈥淲ith that spirit in mind our project was blessed from the very beginning. One of our biggest blessings was that the Southern Poverty Law Center shared our vision and saw the importance of how 鈥楤ibi鈥� could help with the mission behind their Teaching Tolerance project. As an advocate/activist for both the Latinx community and our 人兽性交 youth, to know that our story could save even one life by watching and learning from 鈥楤ibi鈥� means that our mutual mission was accomplished.鈥�

M贸nica Ram铆rez states: 鈥淎s soon as I was approached about helping to support 鈥楤ibi鈥� I knew that it was a film that I wanted to support because of the topic and how beautifully this important story is portrayed. I also knew that 人兽性交 was the right partner because of its long-standing work to promote inclusion in all realms. The film provides the opportunity for a much-needed critical conversation about how we, as a Latinx community and our allies do the work to ensure that our 人兽性交 familia is truly embraced and supported for who they are, as well as for who they love.鈥澛�

鈥淏ibi shines a light on the power of family acceptance and on the pain of rejection,鈥� notes Monica Trasandes, director of Spanish-Language & Latinx Media and Representation for GLAAD. 鈥淚t illustrates the way that, very sadly, homophobia can needlessly create barriers between family members and separate parents from the children they love and children from the parents they need and love.鈥澛犅�

鈥淏ibi鈥� will be聽available for educators to stream through the 人兽性交鈥檚 Teaching Tolerance project with Spanish or English subtitles at . The classroom lessons will also be available on the site.