LGBTQ literature in Venezuela comprises literary works written by Venezuelan authors that involve plots, themes, or characters that are part of or related to sexual diversity. Historically, Venezuelan literature has had among its central concerns the idea of nation building and violence, both themes approached from a traditionally masculine point of view, so sexuality, and in particular sexual diversity, have received little academic interest as literary subjects.
The first references to homosexuality or homoerotic interactions in Venezuelan literature occurred in the late 19th century, in works such as Débora (1884) by Tomás Michelena, or some novels by Manuel Vicente Romero García, although in these cases they were minor references in a mocking tone. In the first decades of the 20th century, Teresa de la Parra stands out; a lesbian writer who, although she never publicly acknowledged her homosexuality, wrote works in which contemporary scholars have identified feminine homoerotic elements, such as the novel Ifigenia (1924).
During the second half of the 20th century, the figure of Isaac Chocrón emerged, considered a pioneering writer in Venezuelan male homosexual literature, who produced an extensive corpus of works that explored LGBT themes, including the play La revolución (1971). Another work by Chocrón was the novel Pájaro de mar por tierra (1972), which follows the story of a young bisexual man named Miguel who emigrates to New York in the midst of the process of forging his identity, but who after exploring his sexuality ends up returning disappointed to Venezuela.
In both of Chocrón's works from this period as well as in works published by other authors, it was common for LGBT characters to meet tragic ends. Homosexuality was also frequently explored in a negative light, for example in short stories by authors such as Ednodio Quintero, Luis Barrera Linares and Alberto Jiménez Ure. Other Venezuelan authors who emerged during the second half of the 20th century and who wrote from a perspective of sexual diversity include figures such as José Balza, Francisco Rivera, Marco Antonio Ettedgui and Boris Izaguirre.
Unlike male LGBT literature and the production existing in other countries in the region, lesbianism was little explored and studied topic in Venezuelan literature of the 20th century. Except for the homoerotic suggestions in some of Teresa de la Parra's works from the first half of the 20th century, it would take decades before local writers such as Dinapiera Di Donato and Ana Teresa Torres returned to addressing female homosexuality. In 1991, Di Donato published the collection of short stories Noche con nieve y amante, considered the first openly lesbian work written by a Venezuelan woman. Torres, for her part, published La favorita del señor in 2001, a novel in narrative erotica.
Although the arrival of the 21st century brought with it the publication of works with more complex LGBT characters portrayed in less prejudiced societies, negative depictions of homosexuality continued to be common, particularly in short stories. Other authors, such as Gisela Kozak, began to subvert heteronormative conceptions of society much more directly in works such as All the Moons (2011), a novel that depicts a utopian society in which characters can explore their sexuality without fear of prejudice. Other contemporary authors who have repeatedly addressed sexual diversity include Manuel Gerardo Sánchez.
First works
The first representations of homosexuality or homoeroticism in Venezuelan literature have their origin in the literature of the late 19th century. An early example is Débora (1884), a moralistic novel by Tomás Michelena that deals with adultery and contains homoerotic scenes between the male characters who seek the attention of the protagonist. Explicitly homosexual characters, on the other hand, appear portrayed in some of Romero's contemporary works. Marcelo, a novel written by Romero in 1890, presents a homosexual waiter who serves the protagonist with effeminate gestures, in a scene that gives the character a ridiculous character and where he is described as a "servant with a feminine voice and voluptuous dance". Another novel by Romero that includes a homosexual character is Peonía (1890).
The approach to sexual diversity with the intention of generating mockery is also present in "La barba no más" (1922), a play by Leopoldo Ayala Michelena. In the play, Ayala includes a homosexual hairdresser named Serapio with exaggerated feminine characteristics who seeks to create a new hairstyle and who only serves women. The protagonist, a heterosexual hairdresser named Caralampio, expresses his hatred of this affectation in the play, thus exemplifying the view of homosexuality at the time, which was viewed with rejection or as a reason for mockery.
In 1924, Teresa de la Parra published the novel Ifigenia, which academics have pointed out for its possible homoerotic content. De la Parra's own sexuality began to be re-evaluated decades after her death by figures such as Sylvia Molloy, particularly her relationship with Lydia Cabrera, who lived with her until her death and who was reportedly her romantic partner. Among the evidence of this are De la Parra's own original diaries, in which she said that she and Cabrera slept in the same bed.
In "Ifigenia," researchers such as Dolores Alcaide Ramírez have pointed out elements of the friendship between María Eugenia, the novel's protagonist, and Cristina and Mercedes that can be interpreted as clues to a platonic romantic love. In the case of Cristina, whom the protagonist meets during adolescence, the author's descriptions are constantly filled with detailed descriptions of her physical appearance and intellect, which captivate María Eugenia and make her a fervent admirer of her friend. This possible reading is supported by María Eugenia's reaction to the letter in which Cristina announces her marriage, which the protagonist takes as a betrayal and the end of the intimacy between them.
In the case of Mercedes, the admiration she arouses in María Eugenia is much more marked and explicit, with descriptions that focus on the effect that her perfume, her voice and her physique have on him, which the protagonist describes as "gentle and radiant, like that of a queen." The intensity of this reaction can be perceived in the following fragment:
The writer from Maracaibo, Andrés Mariño Palacio, was one of the authors who included homosexual characters during the first half of the century, such as in the novel Los alegres desahuciados (1948).
Second half of the 20th century
Male LGBT literature in Venezuela has as a turning point the emergence of the figure of Isaac Chocrón, considered one of the greatest national playwrights of his time, who from the second half of the 20th century produced an extensive corpus of pioneering works in his investigation of different aspects of homosexuality in the society of the time. The first of these to focus on homosexuality as a main theme was the play La revolución (1971), which tells in two acts the story of an overweight homosexual man named Gabriel who feels too old to continue working in cabarets as a drag queen. During the play, Gabriel announces the imminent start of his show, which is repeatedly delayed because he has become absorbed in reminiscing about scenes from his youth. Finally, Gabriel gets into an altercation with his assistant that ends in the former's death from a gunshot wound. In terms of its representation of homosexuality, La revolución has a position for marking a change in the characterization of homosexual characters: from being subjects in heterosexual environments used to generate ridicule in the reader, they became more complex characters, with an active sexuality and agency of their own.
The following year, Chocrón published the novel Pájaro de mar por tierra (1972), considered his emblematic work on LGBT themes. The plot of the novel follows the story of Miguel "Micky" Casas, a nineteen-year-old bisexual man who leaves his life in Caracas to forge a new identity in New York. In this city, Miguel experiences prostitution, a relationship with a man named Frank, and a general disenchantment that later lead him to return to his homeland, where he falls in love with an enigmatic woman named Gloria. Marked by his uprooting, Miguel constantly seeks emancipation in order to find himself. However, as in "La revolución," he ultimately meets a tragic end.
The disenchantment in the lives of characters of diverse sexuality in different strata of Venezuelan society was one of the recurring themes in the writing of José Balza, who during the decades prior to the 21st century published several works on LGBT themes. In Largo (1968), Balza includes a homosexual sex scene where the character of Adriano, who could only conceive of his desire for men by imagining himself in the active role, ends up being penetrated by another man. In Midnight on Video: 1/5 (1988), on the other hand, he recounts an experience in a sex club where the union of bodies merges with various scenes that jump from one location to another.
As can be seen in Chocrón's works of these years and in some aspects of Balza's, homosexuality in the Venezuelan literature of the time was usually represented in tragic contexts. A heteronormative and negative vision of sexual diversity was also common, as can be seen in stories such as "Volveré con mis perros" (I Will Return with My Dogs) (1975) by Ednodio Quintero; "Nunca lloverá" (It Will Never Rain) (1985) by Luis Barrera Linares; and "Travestido" (1986) by Alberto Jiménez Ure. Quintero's story tells the story of an older man who meets a young man in a bar and, after the latter gets drunk, apparently sexually abuses him, which awakens the young man's hatred and thirst for revenge. However, the story also reveals a possible diverse sexual orientation in the young man, although this is supposedly explained by his mother's habit of dressing him in women's clothing as a child, which, in the narrator's words, would have "deformed" him. The author later expresses his hatred of this sexuality in the rape scene in the following terms:
Travestido (1986), by Alberto Jiménez Ure, takes a more disturbing tone in its negative exploration of homosexuality. In the story, Arturo confesses his desire to a homosexual boy named Luis by revealing that: "From my apartment, anguished, I always watch you... I masturbate and suffer." They both surrender to their passion, but Arturo is murdered during sexual intercourse. Later, Luis begins to develop a protuberance on his neck that they soon discover is a fetus, born deformed and rotten, as a symbol of the product of homosexual passion.
Other LGBT authors who emerged during the 1970s and 1980s include John Petrizzelli Font, who published his short story collection Negro lógico in 1978; Marco Antonio Ettedgui, who died in 1981 at the age of 22 but was influential in combining writing, theater, and conceptual art in his presentations; and Francisco Rivera, who published the novel Voces al atardecer in 1990, which explores the lives of a group of Venezuelan intellectuals of diverse sexual orientations through various literary genres. On the poetry side, Armando Rojas Guardia stood out.