I was doing my daily rounds, looking for LGBT news articles to send to my e-mail lists, when I ran into this article from yesterday's edition of the Dominican Republic newspaper Listin Diario: "Lovers exempt from the conventional."
The article takes a look at past and current 'unconventional' romantic relationships between high profile women including Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson, Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi, Rosie O'Donnell and Kelli Carpenter, Jodie Foster and Sydney Bernard and Rita Indiana Hérnandez and Noella Quintero.
Rita Indiana and Noella who? Rita Indiana is from the Dominican Republic and is one of the brightest upcoming stars in Latino music in the island as well as the United States. Noella Quintero is the director of her bozongo video for her hit "La Hora de Volvé". Rita Indiana had been nominated for this past weekend's annual Casandra Awards as "Revelation of the Year" and, a few days before the Dominican Republic's biggest music awards, she said the following on Teleantilla...
Wow! This is a singer on the rise in the Dominican Republic whose band, Rita Indiana y Los Misterios, has still to release an album. And Rita Indiana calmly and matter-of-factly just answers the question. I am in awe.
There had been rumors in the past about Rita Indiana's sexuality mostly from gossip sites who joked about her way of dressing and her style. You know, the sort of rumors that also follow Puerto Rican singer Ivy Queen. And she might have chosen to do what a lot of other closeted Latino singers do and just say she was in a relationship with someone and not mention gender, or deny she was in a relatiosnhip, or... you get the point. But, no, this young Dominican techno-merengue-rock singer had the guts to say 'Yup!'. Kudos!
Next up: A collaboration with Calle 13?
UPDATE (3/24/10): I am a great admirer of the blog Monaga. He is, without a doubt, the BEST English-language chronicler of gay life in the Dominican Republic. He has picked up on this post and chimes in:
I had wanted to write about Rita Indiana, a young dynamic Dominican singer who is generating a lot of buzz. There is a photo of her online kissing her lover. Yes, in the Dominican Republic. She showed up to the Casandra Awards like it was just normal to show up with the person you are dating. Right? Well, anyway I was surprised and shocked at how she is not bothered. How beautiful AND courageous. I wanted to do something specifically about her, but Blabbeando has written a great piece about her that includes videos. It just makes me even more proud of her. It doesn't hurt that she is also a great musician with her own distinctive style.Thanks, Monaga! For more information on Rita Indiana please follow these links:
- Rita Indiana's official promoter website here (official free music downloads here)
- Rita Indiana on MySpace here
- Rita Indiana in Twitter here
- Rita Indiana y Los Misterios on MySpace here
- Rita Indiana y Los Misterios fan page on Facebook here
She often performs in New York City and other U.S. cities so check-her out live if you can.
"La Hora de Volvé"
"El Blu del Ping Pong"
"La Jardinera"
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3 comments:
This is wonderful news.
Rita Indiana Hernández, who is also a talented writer and has published two well received novels in Spanish (including Papi), has always been out of the closet. Her performance art reinvention as a pop singer "closeted" her, so to speak, allowing her to "come out" again as a media event.
Her music is the best! check it out at http://ritaindiana.com
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