Asta Kyiv  00:02  

My name is Asta Kyiv. I'm a student at Virginia Commonwealth University. Today I'm interviewing David Ferrer from Henrico, Virginia. Today is Wednesday, March 13th. The time is 2:17pm. And the interview is being conducted in David's home. Thank you so much for joining me today, David.

 

David Ferrer  00:22

Thank you for having me.

 

Asta Kyiv  00:24

So to start off, could you tell me a little bit about where your family's from and how your childhood was?

 

David Ferrer  00:33  

So my family's from Venezuela. They, it was very interesting, they met each other in Florida, they didn't even meet each other in Venezuela. But they came over for their own reasons, they both came over a fairly young age, and then they met in their teens. And then they had me around when my mom was like 20-21? Something like that. They came over here because we had a little bit more family. But we were not the richest, we grew up fairly poor. For a while we didn't even have a home. But then that things got started getting better. My dad built his own company and, over the age, over the time, we definitely, they racked up quite a bit. But it was- it was definitely an interesting childhood mostly because wherever in Virginia, at least while I was being raised, there wasn't much of a Latino community until lately, so...

 

Asta Kyiv  01:26  

Where did your family live before you had your home?

 

David Ferrer  01:30  

Um, so a lot of times, we would be spending time in my grandma's or whenever they we had a chance we will be in their room. Eventually, we were able to rent out the living room in this apartment where these two white people lived. And so they lived there- well, we lived there. It wasn't very fun, though. I can't really remember that much. Because I was still very, very young, like the age of like one or two. But um, my parents said that they didn't enjoy it, because there was like no privacy. I mean, it was the living room. So you couldn't really do much. It was just an inflatable mattress out in living room. And that's where we would be. But most of the time I was- I was at my grandparents- my grandma's house because they lived nearby and I would spend time there or... Yeah, whenever my- because my mom and my dad used to flip working a lot. My dad would work night shift, my mom would work during the day. And so whenever I wasn't whenever they weren't working out would be with them. Of course they were taking around trying to do something with me. 

 

Asta Kyiv  02:29  

And were your parents married at the time?

 

David Ferrer  02:32  

Yes, yes. Their marriage system is really interesting. Um, I don't know if they ever like official- officially got married. Like, still, I think to this point, they're not officially married. But I don't know. But um, to them, they never really felt like doing it. Through the law system. Anyways, they kind of really enjoyed just having themselves in their own time. I mean, my mom has a wedding ring. My dad has their wedding ring, and they go, they say they're together. But um, during that time, they definitely they were together Together. At that point. They were definitely together even before they had me. They were quote unquote, "married to each other."

 

Asta Kyiv  03:17  

And which grandparents were you guys mostly staying with?

 

David Ferrer  03:20  

Um, that would be the grandparents on my mom's side. We do not get along with the grandparents- there's a lot of family drama with the grandparents on my dad's side. But the grandparents on my mom's side. They were already here in Virginia. They used to live in New York. So they lived in Venezuela, then they came to New York. Then they went back to Venezuela then they lived in Virginia. Because they had a son who was born here in Virginia. He passed away later though, but he so there was a lot of stuff that was happening with him medically and stuff like that. So they decided to move over here. And that's when I would spend time with them.

 

Asta Kyiv  03:58  

All right, thank you for sharing that. Can you tell me a bit about your education, like where you went to school, and then where you went to school for higher education?

 

David Ferrer  04:09  

So I went to Three Chopt Middle School- Three Chopt Elementary School, sorry. It's this little tiny school I actually really enjoyed it. It was so cute. Back in which was near Henrico near one of the hospitals and it was really really small a small population. But it was really cute. I really enjoyed it. I kind of liked having a smaller school because I felt like I was getting a lot of attention that I needed especially for for the with the fact that I didn't speak English back then. I do not like the fact though that they when I first started going to that school, first - second - grade, third grade, I think I was in ESL until fourth grade, something like that. But they told me like, "Yo don't speak Spanish. Spanish is not going to be useful in this life. Like you're better off just learning English." So my parents were really upset with that. But they, that's where I went for elementary school and I went to Tuckahoe Middle School for a little bit, first two years. Again, never really found my group or anything like that. So I didn't really like that school. It was definitely a little difficult there. I felt like everyone else had their cliques, and then went to Short Pump Middle School, which is even worse, because everyone was white. And they all had their cliques after that I went to Deep Run High School, which it's also very white. I mean, that was more in the Short Pump area. So even there was even less of a like diversity. And I went to VCU. I'm still enrolled in VCU. I'm currently on a gap semester, for religious reasons and stuff like that. But yeah, that's where I'm going. Learning psychology. 

 

Asta Kyiv  05:51  

So you didn't find much of a Latino community at any of the schools you've attended? 

 

David Ferrer  05:57  

Though, the place where I felt the most included is by far VCU because we have LSA and everything like that. But no, if anything, I've been walking around with my mom lately going to like Walmart or going to target stuff like that. And I would look around and like, "Why there's so many Latinos? Where are the people coming from?" Because back when I was being raised here in Virginia, there, there wasn't. If you went further south, and further north, you would find more Latinos, right here in Central America- Central America? Central Virginia. There weren't any any Latinos there really weren't many. Yeah, no matter where I looked, if anything, when I was graduating at Deep Run. I think I was one of three or four different Latinos that were graduating from my year. So it was it was a very small select group. 

 

Asta Kyiv  06:39  

Could you talk a little bit more about LSA?

 

David Ferrer  06:41  

Yeah. So LSA, um, I joined LSA, I think my second semester of freshman year, my first semester of sophomore year, because I was like, I need to make more friends, I need to go, I need to reach out. And I'm wanna make more Latino friends. Like, I feel like I never really got the chance to fully. I mean, I found my group and other senses. It was mostly through my family and stuff like that. But I never found like a group like that I could call my own. So I decided to join LSA. And it was, from the start, it was wild. I feel like when you meet people grown culture, you really click really, really fast. Yeah. Even though, LSA, it's a little annoying, because I can't find anymore- anyone that's properly a part of my culture. I found like, I think one other Venezuelano. There aren't many Caribbean people. It's mostly from Central America. 

 

Asta Kyiv  07:29  

Yeah. 

 

David Ferrer  07:30  

And stuff like that. But even even still, it's It's nice being able to see people that speak my language that know my culture that really like I don't know, Latinos have a very different way of showing off friendships and like care for one another. And so it was nice being able to see that, especially with the way that we're able to share our own cultures, in different cultures through dance, food, and everything like that.

 

Asta Kyiv  07:54  

So you feel like having that community has helped you form deeper relationships? 

 

David Ferrer  07:58  

Definitely. I feel like- sadly, right now, I can't go into LSA as much as I want to, because of the whole religious thing that's going on. But through the people I have met through LSA, I definitely have enjoyed the relationships I've built just because they're a very different bond than the people that I make- or the bonds I make with other people. There's just, I don't know, I feel like when you have that, that cultural tie to one another, there's a level of understanding that you immediately have with each other, you can't really get through just meeting people normally, or people that are outside of your culture, not saying like you can't be friends with people outside of your culture, but there's just that tie that you can't really ignore. It's really really apparent really clear. 

 

Asta Kyiv  08:38  

It's different. 

 

David Ferrer  08:38  

Yeah, very, very. 

 

Asta Kyiv  08:40  

And speaking of culture, you grew up- did you grow up with religion in your household? 

 

David Ferrer  08:46  

Yes, in different ways. Because I grew up with the religion that I'm now a part of, Lukumi. But it was that part was a little bit more kept away. I was raised Catholic, for the most part. When my mom was raising, because my mom is someone that's Catholic, my dad's someone who's a part of this tradition. Lukumi. My mom raised us, when she- we were raised, going to the church, believing in God, everything like that, I mean to Veno- and most Latinos you'll talk to, it's very apparent. God, not even religion. But God, just as the idea of God is very, very important. And so we will always went to chur- church, we were always taught to be very thankful even when we stopped going to church just because my mom didn't like the American church. I would still pray before bed, I would pray before I ate. I would pray whenever something's bad is happening once anything good is happening. Later on around, I think middle school was when I started asking my dad a little bit more about his religion. He was always secretive about it, but it was just because of the fact that he never wanted to force his religion upon us, or scare us with his religion or anything like that. So, if- he didn't really show us when we were younger, but I got I to ask him and I, I slowly started getting... learning about it until I really started learning about it, which was, as you know, now and like college.

 

Asta Kyiv  10:08  

Can you explain that? The religion you practice now- a little bit more? 

 

David Ferrer  10:12  

Yeah, so it's Lukumi. It's uh... Yoruba descent, it comes from the Yoruba people, it well, it's actually a mix of quite a few different religions that were brought over from the Trans Atlantic slave trade by most of the Yoruba people. It started in Cuba and then spread to many, many places. Now, you can find it almost anywhere in South America, but it's a very indigenous religion. In some- a lot of times when you meet priests or people that practice it, especially the people that practice it, the older style, they're going to say that they're Catholic, or they're a Christian. And they're gonna hide it behind Christianity, or that Christian icons, just because in that time, it was safer to do so than to practice actual religion. But the actual religion itself worships God above anything else, and praises the Orisha and our ancestors, which are divinities and spirits of the of nature and our ancestors who come before us, just for anything that can happen will happen. And the main idea of it is to just, align yourself with your best self, and to find the path that you need to to take care of yourself. Of course, there's a lot of mysticism, too Like a lot of divination and stuff like that, for us to better understand what we should be doing and not to- uh, what we shouldn't be doing. But at its core, it's gratefulness, I'd say so and self improvement.

 

Asta Kyiv  11:26  

And you're currently undergoing a process of initiation into the religion, aren't you? 

 

David Ferrer  11:31  

Yes. So I'm, uh, now I'm currently now initiated as a priest. I'm in my, like the training phase, as you would say, I'm currently like taking lessons and I'm talking with my godfather left and right. I'm falling very strict code right now to be able to purify myself the way that's needed to fully be able to be a priest. But at its core, yeah, I'm going through a year long initiation process for me to be fully initiated, I guess, into the religion to be the priests I'm supposed to be.

 

Asta Kyiv  12:04  

 Do you feel like connecting more with this religion and going- undergoing this initiation process has connected you more to your Latino heritage?

 

David Ferrer  12:14  

Yes, and no, because I feel like, it's very interesting, because I've always, I've always been very, I've always been in touch with my culture. And I've always been in touch with my heritage. And I very much always appreciated everything. However, I never got to really see more of the... history or understand what my past ancestors would have gone through my past Latino ancestors. I mean, I was first generation. So when it comes to it, I'm almost as close as you can go to the actual culture itself. My parents taught me everything that they could. 

 

Asta Kyiv  12:45  

Yeah.

 

David Ferrer  12:47  

And so from that sense, I feel like I was I was pretty connected. But this has taught me a little bit more to look at everything through the eyes of my ancestors really look at it from the eyes of, of how these Latino people used to live, because they lived in a very different system than us. Because at its core, I read stories, because that's a big thing of it, I have to read stories about my ancestors, and how they used to live and what they used to do. And they see things with a lot more gratefulness and a lot more thankfulness for even the smallest things. And so it's taught me that and it's really taught me to look into the history of who we are, who my people are, even to the point where I've started to learn a little bit more about like my own indigenous roots and everything like that. But it's definitely taught me. I'd say it's taught me a side of Latino heritage that I never knew existed.

 

Asta Kyiv  13:34  

It's very interesting. Do you still have family that lives in Venezuela?

 

David Ferrer  13:39  

Yes. I still have a lot of family. I've actually it's crazy. Since I've done 23andme and talking with my grandparents, my parents, my grandparents and seeing where we have people. There's a few people here, most of them Florida, and that live in New York, but I have a lot of family that's still in Venezuela that's trapped there because of the system. A few in Spain. But then I also have some in Puerto Rico and Cuba, which I didn't expect. Yeah. I don't have any Puerto Rican in me. But they're there. But yeah, so there's still there's if anything, there's this one on we're really trying to get out of Venezuela right now, just because it's difficult for her. She has children and we want to see her again. But we have a few people there.

 

Asta Kyiv  14:24  

Have you ever been to Venezuela yourself? 

 

David Ferrer  14:26  

Yeah, a few times back then it was a lot nicer. I haven't been able to go recently. Of course, again, because of everything that's happening with the government. But it's a beautiful place. I mean, the people are very different. The culture is alive. People. My mom always says that the people here are cold in comparison, and I would agree and I wish y'all could, like you could like meet the people because it's the type of thing where Venezuelanos will see you lonely sitting lonely on the beach or something. And they're gonna come over to you and tell you like, "Hey, come on. Let's join our group. Let's go play. Let's go play, like, a game of volleyball, have a beer, like let's, let's dance. Venezuelanos, just hate to see people lonely. And our number one thing is we're going to be there for each other. So, and even other than that Venezuela is beautiful in the sense that it's one of the most biodiverse places. It's got jungles, deserts, beaches, mountains, like snowy areas, it's got something of everything.

 

Asta Kyiv  15:27  

Opposite of Lithuania. But you also have family that lives in America, right?

 

David Ferrer  15:29  

Yes, I'm in Virginia. My family was really just my mom's side of the family and but my mom's side of the family when it comes to the grandparents and uncles and aunts. But most of my family is from Florida. Which I mean, I guess that's- there's a places in Florida that's really called New... New Caracas, New Venezuela, just because there's so many people there. And it's it's a little bit of a like a second home. But most people are in Florida. I have a few here in- in Virginia that I see often.

 

Asta Kyiv  15:59  

Do you get to see your Florida family often at all.?

 

David Ferrer  16:02  

Usually, we try to go at least once a year. There's different events, of course, gets us all. There, like not too long ago, someone passed away, sadly. But it was a good reason to call the whole family and like everyone was there and like go to see almost everyone. Not too long ago, like two or three months ago, during winter break, I went to Florida to see the family and it was just, it was everyone and it's always really, really nice. I feel like every single time I go I connect with him even more than the time before.

 

Asta Kyiv  16:32  

Moving back to Virginia, you've mentioned this a little bit. But can you talk more about your experience with the Latino community in Virginia?

 

David Ferrer  16:44  

There's not much to speak of. I think- I think that's the bigger problem. Um, there has been a, again, my biggest touch with the Latino community has been through my parents just because they're older. And so they, they know the spots to go to so then they meet people and then they- those people have sons or children that I end up becoming friends with. When it comes to school, I just haven't met that many people just because of how small the community was not so much now. But I feel like if anything now is when I'm starting to meet more Latino people, I go out on the streets and I see Spanish people. And they still bring a lot of times they still bring their Spanish attitudes. So like you'll, you'll go over there, you'll see someone and like you can tell you're both Latinos or they'll just start talking to each other. And they they're always so happy. But Virginia itself, I don't know. I feel like for me, it was very, very difficult at an early age just because I felt like I was a little bit more stranded or lonely in that sense.

 

Asta Kyiv  17:43  

Yeah.

 

David Ferrer  17:43  

Most of the time, I had to not choose a side. But like I really had to like pick like, oh my god, I'm like whitewash myself a little bit and decided to be with with white people, or people with people of color. That still just isn't me.

 

Asta Kyiv  17:56  

Yeah.

 

David Ferrer  17:57  

So it was it was a balancing game. 

 

Asta Kyiv  17:59  

Yeah.

 

David Ferrer  17:59  

I did at one point, though, meet a Latina who also happened to be Venezolana. Back in middle school. And we got along very well. I think she was kind of her and one other one who was a Mexican girl, or the three of us were the ones that really clicked together for a while. But it was it was very scarce. 

 

Asta Kyiv  18:16  

Yeah. So most of your experiences have been outside of the Latino community?

 

David Ferrer  18:21  

Yeah. 

 

Asta Kyiv  18:21  

Can you talk a little bit more about what it's like to be like, separated from that community, like what your experience is outside of that? 

 

David Ferrer  18:29  

I think it's very, that's a very interesting topic, just because I feel like it's changed with the time. Before when I was younger. I mean, everyone, when they're younger, we I feel like humans are just the type of people that want to fit in. So when I was younger, I wasn't as proud of my heritage or anything like that. And so a lot of times, like I said, I would whitewash myself or I would change myself to fit into different groupings. And so it was very isolating in that sense, especially because my Latino parents are usually very strict parents. And so people will never understand when it's when I have been like, "Oh, let me see if my mom will let me," or "Oh, like have to check in with my mom." Or like, I had, Life 360 years before anyone else had Life 360 so when, when I was like, "No, I can't go out because then my mom will see that, that where I'm going." They'll be like "How? Your parents are tracking you?" And stuff like that. So um, it was always isolating in that sense. But as I've grown older, I've grown to really love my culture and love everything. And now I almost see it as like a gift because it's the type of thing where it's like, there are a lot of Latinos especially now in America but even though people love Latin people, like we have an energy we have a fun like a funness to us. I love to dance, I love to share my music. I love to share like our culture, food and everything like that. So I always I like to tell people like "Oh, let's go dance!" Like I'll put on some Spanish music, get people dancing, you know that. I like to make food for people. I like sharing my culture with other people. And a lot of times I find that that people really appreciate it. And it's a way for me to connect with a lot of people and get people to see something that they wouldn't normally see. 

 

Asta Kyiv  20:02  

Yeah. No, I remember being one of the people who couldn't believe that your parents were still tracking you in college. 

 

David Ferrer  20:09  

Yeah, to this day girl to this day, I have Life 360 on, I'm always getting notifications and stuff like that. Luckily, I kind of turned the tables on them, especially now since I'm doing this religious thing. I can't leave my home very much. I'm always checking my mom. I'm like, "What are you doing leaving the house so late?" But I've also- I've sat down with my mom, I feel like a nice thing about me and what I've been able to do with my life, I've been able to kind of coordinate in my brain what is right and what isn't right?

 

Asta Kyiv  20:39  

Yeah.

 

David Ferrer  20:39  

I kind of understand because at the same time, I do understand, my parents are coming from a completely different culture, they understand things very differently than the way that I understand them. So I have to take that into, like account when I'm thinking about everything, but I've sat down with my parents and have been like, "Yo, like, this is cool. This isn't cool. Y'all need to fix this, like I understand this, but..." And so like, I've sat down and I- I've- we've- I've compromised with my parents, where it's not the thing where like, they're checking me or they're looking at my location, even if they are, they've already told me like, I'm an adult, I can do what I want. So if they if they do text me like, "Hey, what are you doing?" I'm an adult. You we've talked about this, and they really can't say much. But for the most part, I think it's the, they're very hazardous people. So I think the big thing of it is protection. I just want to make sure I'm right. And so that's the main reason why they haven't. 

 

Asta Kyiv  21:29  

How old are you?

 

David Ferrer  21:30  

20. 

 

Asta Kyiv  21:31  

Okay, and when's your birthday? 

 

David Ferrer  21:33  

March -March 29, 2003. I'm turning 21 Soon, very soon, very soon, yeah, two- three weeks.

 

Asta Kyiv  21:47  

When your family first got here, like, obviously, I know you were born here. But do you know of any organizations that might have helped them?

 

David Ferrer  21:56  

That was, I think that was the biggest problem back then when they came here, because I've talked to them about this. Um, back when they first came here, luckily, they were in Florida. So when they first first were here, in Florida, it was easier because there was a bigger Latino community, and they could find people to talk to find people that could understand them, and get them the resources and help that they would need. When they came over here to Virginia, it became a lot harder, because of the fact that there was such a small Latino population. And because they, they did not know English, like like, they couldn't speak English at all, it was very difficult for them to speak English, they couldn't find people to talk to or people that could understand them to get that help very well. Of course, back then I don't, they didn't necessarily have like, the technology or they weren't as tech savvy to be able to do everything as easily now. So they just found it very, very difficult. And my dad's the type of person where if something's difficult, he becomes hard headed, and he'll do it his own. He'll just figure it out. And he'll get it done. 

 

Asta Kyiv  22:54  

Immigrant fathers.

 

David Ferrer  22:55  

Yeah. So it's like, "I don't care. I'm gonna get it done. I don't need help anyways." So. But I do think that I do think there were definitely some that they could have found. It was just a type of thing that accessibility, it was difficult for them to find it.

 

Asta Kyiv  23:10  

So you never had help yourself from any sort of organization like that.

 

David Ferrer  23:15  

I mean, I think there were government organizations, you know, like, like, back then we got EBT, and stuff like that, that would help us with money. But no, there wasn't like anything, because for example, you may have mentioned the Sacred Heart program, and through LSA, I've heard about it too, and stuff like that. It seems like a very, very helpful program for Latino people. It's something I've been wanting- wanted to do. But that back then there was nothing like that that they knew of that could have helped them. We never got help like that from anyone. 

 

Asta Kyiv  23:42  

So it's definitely a different. It's different today?

 

David Ferrer  23:44  

Yeah. Times have definitely changed since back then. Quite a bit.

 

Asta Kyiv  23:50  

Can you talk a little bit about your job? 

 

David Ferrer  23:54  

Yeah. So. I'm a field manager. Or, so a contractor within Orion Painting, which is my dad's company. You know how US immigrants are willing the immigrants work and their family. They own a business and we work in it. But it's a business that he started building up with my grandpa on my mom's side. And it's a contracting business where we go in and we build houses and stuff like that. We build houses, we repair drywall wouldn't do anything like that way we work with a bigger company called HHR, which they make they like, they make a bunch of homes, and then we'll go in and then do the 90 day work, we'll do the 11 months, which is like after a certain period, but based off the contract and go in and do different things to repair it. And basically, I'm like the field manager, so I just kind of come in, I walk in, I introduced myself to the partner or to the client or the homeowner, I tell them what's going on and then I walked through the house and make sure everything that needs to be marked gets marked. And I'm basically the the line of communication between the two sides, the the English speaker and the Spanish speaker, because a lot of our crew are just Spanish speakers. And so I'm kind of there to be able to translate for both sides to be able to talk to the client and to be able to talk to any other like managers or anyone that comes in. That's a part of the HHR. 

 

Asta Kyiv  25:20  

So the majority of the- your co workers are Spanish speaking. Are they Latino? 

 

David Ferrer  25:25  

Yeah, yeah, they're all Latino, you, a lot of them are, like are from Honduras. Some of them from Colombia, maybe like one or two from Venezuela. There's always a lot of Central Americans though, here in Virginia. 

 

Asta Kyiv  25:38  

So like your father, this Latino, man has made this company of Latinos. In a way it's its own community.

 

David Ferrer  25:44  

Yeah, no. And I think I think that's what I really appreciate about it too. Because the thing is my dad, he went through so much to be able to build this company. And with a he choosing to help out a lot of Latinos, whenever there's people that come in that need help, or whenever one of my co workers have, like family that's coming in, or someone that's coming to live in America, and they don't have a job, they don't have a place to work, they don't have anything, my dad's immediately, like, "Let's get them into the business, help find some extra job, we can get them working, they can get some money." And it's kind of our own little community so that we can help our people. And then within that, I mean, we do handle all the drywall, all the caulking and stuff like that. But then we have a branch that works with framing, we have a branch that works with, it's called like, glass and stuff like that. So within we have like this mini bubble that's a part of a bigger bubble. 

 

Asta Kyiv  26:33  

Yeah. I mean, when my father first came to America, who- Who do you think hired him? It was a Latino man.

 

David Ferrer  26:39  

Oh, really? Yes.

 

Asta Kyiv  26:43  

Before we move on to the next section, are you comfortable talking about your sexuality?

 

David Ferrer  26:48  

Yeah.

 

Asta Kyiv  26:48  

 Um, so do you want to talk a little bit about the intersection of being Latino, religious, and also queer man?

 

David Ferrer  26:57  

So I think that is quite an interesting topic, a difficult topic for most people. Um, so it was always very, very difficult coming to terms. Girl- I was. I was in a glass closet. To begin, let's just start with that. Everyone knew I was gay. Before I was, I came out as gay or even before I knew I was gay, because for the most part, I didn't, I didn't really believe, um, I was gay, mostly because of just the way that I was raised. It's very interesting, though, to Latinos. It's not necessarily that it's taboo in the way that it's like something that's looked down upon, but mostly because of safety. My biggest problem with my parents that I encounter, and I'll go, I'll touch more on to how they react and everything. But the biggest problem that they had with me being gay, was just that they were concerned for my, my safe being, they were like, people are gonna bully you, people are always gonna make fun of you, they're gonna say things. You have to be careful in the streets, people are gonna, like, they're just going to attack you never know what's gonna happen, you really have to, like, be on our guard, stuff like that. Even to this day, my dad's like, if someone says something to you, I'm gonna be there to beat them up. But I, from a young age of everyone else, I don't know how I get people said it was my voice could tell that I was gay. But, um, I first started trying to get my parents to, I first started trying to tell my parents I would say, by the way, like bringing up gay topics and be like, "Yo, like, did you know that this happened to gay people and stuff like that?" And like, my parents be like, "Oh, that's awful. I can't believe that." So at first, I was like, Oh my God, they're okay with gay people. And then later on, like, I would say, like, "Mom, how would you feel if you had a gay son?" I don't know how they didn't like that, like me being like, Yo, I'm gay. But they would like, they were like, "No, I'd never have a gay son. Like I can't. Like no." Later on. Later, turns out they had a gay son. And this is this was a little bit difficult. But, um, I remember there was a point where I was like, talking with one of the friends that I've met through middle- or made in middle school, and it's like, oh, like, "Maybe I might be gay. Like, I don't know. I don't like, I don't think I like girls," and stuff like that. And then this is where the Latino comes in the Latino strictness, every night, I had to put away my phone, I was not allowed to sleep with my phone at any point until I literally moved out for college. I was not allowed to sleep with my phone. I had to put my phone away somewhere in the living room or in my parents room. And so when I they looked through my phone, and they saw those texts, and then they woke me up at like, two in the morning or something. And I just woke up to two people while my dad yelling at me and my mom looking like crying and disappointment and stuff like that being like, "You're not gay." Like, "You can't be gay. I'm not gonna have a gay son." Blah-blah-blah, this and that. And that was the first time I came out. I think I came out four times. Each time until the last time it was met with that, though, the last time was around the age of... actually, I don't know. I was in senior year, I came out. And at that point, they couldn't really deny it. And I also was like, you're on like 18, if- I'm pretty sure I was 18, y'all I'm 18. Like, y'all can't tell me I'm not getting any more like, I'm pretty aware of how I feel and stuff like that. And they didn't really have a choice. And from there, it was kind of a thing of repairing the relationship, because they also, they felt like they were betrayed. In a way, I can understand why because it's kind of the fact that they had an image of their son in their brain for 20- or 18 years or so. And then that idea was completely flipped on its tail. But it was just a lot of patience from both sides. One thing about me, I was always very family oriented, they did a lot of things to hurt me, but I never wanted to lose my family. And so because of that, I put in a lot of effort to fix the relationship to put a lot of patients on, and everything like that. And eventually they came around. The part that is interesting is that religious factor in it as well, because even though like I said, it's not necessarily something that they saw as wrong or taboo, it was still something that they were like, "Okay, but God also said, and God said, 'A man and a woman.'" And so that factor played him for a while, mostly from my mom's side, because again, she was Catholic. But she also I sat down with my mom. And for the longest time, I was like, "I don't think you even really believe in this religion, in Christianity. Like, there's a lot of things that you don't like about it, and you don't go to church anymore. There's things." And that's when we started really delving into my dad's religion too. And I think that's when people find out that I'm a priest... I'm gay. They're usually a little confused about that. But the thing is, in our religion, it's not I wouldn't even always call it religion, because it really is a tradition of spirituality in a way of life. It's very shamanistic, and it's in its views. And in a way we praise gay people in a certain way, because they're different. And God created everyone with their own differences for a specific reason. And in our religion, they're called the Adori. And there's a story about how one of our biggest causes- in our religion we believe that we are born from a two Orishias- to divinities- our spirit is born from one of two, or two out of 401. That's how many there are in total. But without the Adori, one of our Orisha is Obatala, who is in my religion, my father would not be here, or spiritually today. It said that he was the one who saved- the Adori, the gay and the lesbians were the one that saved Obatala at the end of the day, from something that was happening. And so they're very respected. Within our religion, we also have an Orisha divinity that's... not necessarily transgender, but gender fluid, switches between two religions. And then there's one that's like, we don't even know if they're a man or a woman, they're so abstract that we, we- we have a saying that no one knows what's at the bottom of the ocean except for Aloqun and God. Who Aloqun is, that diety, that we don't know if they're a man or a woman. So it's, when it comes to that I... I don't know, there was definitely a while that I refused to be religious. I said, I was atheist, if anything. I didn't believe in anything for a while. And the main thing that guided me towards that was back when I was Christian, and I was like, I think I'm gay. And I was trying to figure out my identity, and my religion was kind of restricting me from.

 

Asta Kyiv  33:24  

So the reaction was negative, but it wasn't negative in the typical American way? 

 

David Ferrer  33:29  

Not at all. I don't. I feel like that's a that's always one thing that people get confused about when they when they think about gay people coming out in Latin America, they think of it in an American way. But the thing is, to most Latino people, before anything is family, there's nothing that can really- you can do to hurt a family. If anything, there's this song that my mom used to always sing for me when I was a kid. And in the song can't remember the exact lyrics. But it basically says, like, doesn't matter if you are lost in drugs, it doesn't matter if you run away. It doesn't matter if you kill someone, it goes to some crazy things. But at the end of the day is like says like, you're my family, you're my son, and I can never change that. And so to my parents, at the end of the day, I was their son and they, they weren't going to lose me. 

 

Asta Kyiv  34:16  

And there was a point where you did run away for a little while, right? 

 

David Ferrer  34:19  

Yeah, I ran away for like a week. But that was for different reasons. It was because they found out that I was doing something that I shouldn't have been doing. And my thing is, I'm always been the type of person I'm a very free person. I can't feel like I'm trapped within a cage or I can't feel like I'm being closed or anything somewhere. And like I said, my parents were really strict. I first moved out for college freshman year and I got my first taste of freedom and I went crazy with it. As a lot of people do. And so my parents saw that and they were like, "You're not doing anything good with your life. I'm going to take you back home." And I will say I am not doing... I'm not going back home, I'm not going back to that cage. And so the second I... They took me back home. The second I noticed there was a little bit. There was a little time for me to escape. I grabbed my skateboard, I grabbed a backpack, and I went flyin'.

 

Asta Kyiv  35:16  

I remember that.

 

David Ferrer  35:17  

Yeah, yeah, it was... was it?

 

Asta Kyiv  35:19  

It was my birthday. 

 

David Ferrer  35:20  

Oh, it was? Yeah, that's crazy. I remember it was Kendal and Bella that picked me up and then Ashani, and we picked up Ashani, and then they dropped me off at Alex's.

 

Asta Kyiv  35:29  

Do you feel like your story specifically, like relating to your parents, kind of is a reflection of the way that they're holding on to the values of their home country and you're becoming an Americanized Latino? 

 

David Ferrer  35:46  

I definitely do think so. And I was actually it's wild that you bring that up, because I was talking to them about that not too long ago. Because even within our tradition, our tradition is wholly based in Cuba. But our religion for that was African so that religion had had to have some changes. And now this religion has been spread to America. And so it's going through changes again. So my godfather was talking because now we're experiencing very similar things with my sister, where she's running away and stuff like that. And she's going doing some crazy things. But my godfather to sit down with my mom and be like, "You have to understand that you're Venezuelana and these children were born in America in a very different society. And because of that, they're going to be raised in different ways." And I'm talked to this about my- my, my mom, and even now my mom says that she wants to, she wants to get out of America. She hates it here. She's done with it. She doesn't want it. She wants to go back to Latin America. And I keep on telling her she wants to go back to Venezuela, but I keep on telling her. "You're not going back for Venezuela, you're going back because you want to get what you had back in the past. But the thing is that no longer exists, it's not something that you can't go back to." And to her, her family is kind of like the last bit of Venezuela that in her head she was able to create. And so she really wants to hold on strong and hold on to it. But she's starting to realize, and I'm grateful, but she's starting to realize that holding on is kind of just making it worse. 

 

Asta Kyiv  37:06  

I mean, it's a special type of grief, like you, you and your parents will never speak the same language without an accent. Like- and that- it creates grief from- for both parties like and I'm speaking from my own personal experience, but I feel like it relates to you too. Have you felt like any connection with a, like gay Latino community in Virginia specifically? 

 

David Ferrer  37:30  

No, you know, that's- that's actually wild, I've never even thought about that. I think I've always looked at both those identities so separately, I've never really thought about connecting them together. I've always looked for gay community never really found one except for my friends. They're all gay. Latino community, I was able to find it through LSA. But I think I have noticed that before the first touch of like, gay and Latino that I felt together, actually two cases would be Omar Apolo, who is a queer Latino artists who through his music actually connected with quite a bit. I was like, "Wow, there's more like me," Also, and everyone hated me because I love this show. But Love Victor. Love Victor was a Spanish was a queer guy with gay guy who is also at Latino. And it talks about his story. And his story was so similar to my story in so many ways. It was insane. And so I connected really, really hard with it. Because I was like, this is one of the first times I've had full representation on TV. Everyone, you always make fun of me, because we're like, "Oh, that's such a dumb show. It was so poorly made, blah-blah-blah." I was like, I don't care. I really liked this show. Because it's basically me. But no, I've never really found a community that I would say, I can. I feel like I'm I'm in that is both Latino, and I would love to, but I don't know if there's any here in Virginia.

 

Asta Kyiv  38:52  

Start one in Richmond. 

 

David Ferrer  38:53  

Literally.

 

Asta Kyiv  38:55  

So now we're going to kind of shift focus a little bit and talk about the pandemic and how it affected you and your family. Where were you living when the pandemic first started? 

 

David Ferrer  39:07  

I was in Short Pump. Yeah, I was in Short Pump, Virginia.

 

Asta Kyiv  39:12  

And how did you learn about it?

 

David Ferrer  39:14  

The pandemic? 

 

Asta Kyiv  39:15  

Yeah. 

 

David Ferrer  39:15  

Um, I think it was through school? Because I remember I was in well, I can't remember that whole place. That whole era is so foggy to me. I think it's just because I was almost living the same day back to back then it was just the same thing. But I'm pretty sure it was through school just because I- I had so many friends that were always like very active when it comes to pol- politics and stuff like that. And always looking at the news and they learned about COVID. For a while, I know my parents and my family didn't really believe or learn about it, just because it wasn't on their radar. But we heard about it, especially getting closer to when it was shutting down to when they were closing everything down. Because I remember everyone would start making fun of each other like being like, "You coughed! You have Covid!" And stuff like that. And I would always get so annoyed because I also had seasonal allergies around that time. So I would be like in class and be like don't sniffle. And then everyone looked at me like... Oh, my God, y'all.

 

Asta Kyiv  40:15  

So your father owns a construction company, right? 

 

David Ferrer  40:18  

Yes. 

 

Asta Kyiv  40:18  

So how did your family deal with the stay at home orders and no longer being able to work? 

 

David Ferrer  40:25  

See, during that part of my life, I was not working. So I can't really say perfectly. But I do know that it did affect us quite a bit when it came to our income and our money. We were, we were running real, real tight, we didn't have a lot of money, we really couldn't do much. I think my dad during that time, where he focused on whenever he could was... houses or deals where he was able to do it kind of quarantined, and stuff like that. But there were I remember, because I think there was a, there was a few weeks where people were just not allowed to go or do anything. And during those few weeks, we really just struggled. We didn't have another choice because we couldn't work. We didn't really have another choice. I was working at Mellow Mushroom. No? Yes, I was working at Mellow Mushroom. So through there, I was getting some money. But when it comes to the family, we were struggling. The only sense of money that they really had was what they had stored up. And my grandparents, my grandparents ended up helping us a lot during that time.

 

Asta Kyiv  41:28  

And how old were you when the pandemic started?

 

David Ferrer  41:34  

16.

 

Asta Kyiv  41:38  

So you're at home with the rest of your family? 

 

David Ferrer  41:40  

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I was spending a lot of time at home. Whenever I could, I would go to Short Pump. I mean, Mellow Mushroom. But , yeah, for the most part I was just at home.

 

Asta Kyiv  41:53  

Who was at home? Like who were you quarantining with?

 

David Ferrer  41:58  

My mom and dad... and my two siblings. 

 

Asta Kyiv  42:02  

And how old were they? 

 

David Ferrer  42:03  

My sister at the time would have been 14. And my brother 12. So I'm the oldest.

 

Asta Kyiv  42:11  

And your father wasn't working that much. So it was like all of you guys together all the time?

 

David Ferrer  42:16  

Basically. Yeah, it's actually so funny. There's, we have Polaroids and stuff like that, of us in quarantine. And we'd just start doing stupid, random things like we would have karaoke nights, we would have nights that we would dress up in dumb outfits and like, hang out with each other. Watching movies, of course, stuff like that. Play board games, a lot of board games, but it was just us quarantining together. 

 

Asta Kyiv  42:39  

Do you think it brought you guys closer? A little bit?

 

David Ferrer  42:43  

Yes, and no. I would say yes, because it was kind of nice getting a break from the stereotypical "whiteland" that I was around 24/7 in store pump. But during that time, I was kind of, in my like, angsty teenager phase, where I just kind of wanted to be with my friends the whole time. And stuff like that. Yeah. And so I would always get annoyed. And also I- back then, especially back then I've become a much more social person now. But back then I used to love my alone-time. They did. That's one thing about a Latino household, you will never get alone-time. We weren't- we weren't allowed to have a door or door closed ever. So our door was open 24/7. And they would just walk in and talk to me. I'd be like, I just want to be in bed leave me alone. But...it did... It's I actually have a lot of like, sadness attached to that time. Because it was nice. It was fun. I just feel like I could have honestly have been a better son during that time. And like, cooperated a little bit better and, and make the best out of it. And enjoy my time with my family. Because especially now being in college. Now that I don't see them all the time because I'm not living with them. Kind of like Damn. It was it was it was it was nice in its own way. Just being with family non stop. 

 

Asta Kyiv  44:02  

It's hard to recognize things like that when you're a teenager. 

 

David Ferrer  44:04  

Yeah, I understand. That's always what I tell myself. So I don't... but

 

Asta Kyiv  44:09  

Were you- or were any of your family members or any friends, community members severely impacted by COVID?

 

David Ferrer  44:20  

That's, I'm... I'm not sure because the thing is, during that time, I really just wasn't as much focused on that type of stuff. But from what I remember, there were there was definitely a family that was being impacted, especially back in Venezuela, that were being impacted because I mean, it literally be- COVID reached everywhere. And in Venezuela, the problem is, they couldn't even find back then they couldn't find bread or anything like that without... going into store and stealing things. The thing is if they went into a store to steal something, they were going to be exposed to COVID. And over there, they had- their health care system was bad, they were not going to be able to find any medicine and stuff like that. So I remember there was, I think, no I did. I had, I had an aunt who I had an aunt who was hospitalized and everything, because she got COVID. And her lungs, like almost completely gave out. She was like in one of those like breathing machines and everything. But I do remember when it came to the to work, there were a few members of our family or like, friends that did suffer. And as soon as we were able to start working again and stuff like that, my dad, of course, started working by himself first so that he can rack up money and be able to provide for the family. But he quickly started trying to help out the other people that were near us. Because there were a lot of people in my family that just didn't have sufficient money anymore. 

 

Asta Kyiv  45:47  

Yeah. Your aunt, was she in America or Venezuela? 

 

David Ferrer  45:51  

She, I'm pretty sure she was in Venezuela. From whatever remember, it was my aunt that I had in Minnesota. There I There were also some in in Florida that got pretty, pretty ill, but not as bad as her. I remember that there was a point I think that she just wasn't conscious from how bad it was. 

 

Asta Kyiv  46:09  

But she did recover?

 

David Ferrer  46:11  

I don't know. I don't think so.

 

Asta Kyiv  46:13  

Oh, I'm sorry.

 

David Ferrer  46:13  

No, no, it's okay. I can't remember perfectly. But I remember that we were talking about her. And the one day we just stopped talking about her. Oh, like as if like, like everyone just... like it was like better not to touch it and touch on and not to talk about it was better just left alone. So I don't think that she actually got any better. And a lot of times, I mean, that's just how Latinos are sometimes especially in my family, they're the type of people that if something hurts, if something's wrong, they, they it's better for them not to talk about it and just go at it, headstrong, and hope that it gets better. 

 

Asta Kyiv  46:49  

But your father was kind of like, heading this mutual aid type of thing? where he was providing for other members of the community who couldn't provide for themselves anymore?

 

David Ferrer  46:59  

Yeah, no, definitely. And the thing is also, I mean, that's just I feel like a part of their culture, though. Yeah, their culture, it's a very giving type of thing. It's a I help you, you helped me in whenever you can. So I do remember, even after, when the quarantine wasn't so bad, and stuff like that, we would always have people come over so that way we can help them we would like give them something to eat stuff like that. I remember a lot of times, any clothes that I would grow out of or anything like that, I would immediately pack up and send it to Venezuela or send it to a family that needed it. A lot of times during that time, my dad would be sending money a lot to, just like, to other families and other parts of my family and stuff like that.

 

Asta Kyiv  47:41  

How do you think like the Latino community in general was impacted by COVID?

 

David Ferrer  47:46  

I think it was very, very, I've personally, I really do think it's difficult for the Latino community, especially because a lot of Latinos in America, or at least, they're kind of like in this weird middle ground, where they're trying to get around with this language that isn't properly always English, isn't properly always understood. So they're, they're trying their best. But during COVID, I mean, the thing is, during COVID, there's also there was a big, just, everyone had a lot of fear. And so everyone's scared of helping each other touching other people and stuff like that. And the thing is, whether a lot of people want to recognize it or not, there's a little bit of a race factor that goes into it. And a lot of times some Latinos are seen as like dirty or Latino are seen as like, as less clean and things like that. So there were I know, there were a lot of Latinos that weren't able to get the help that they needed just because of that simple fact that they were thought of as like, not as pure, not as clean. So they were more likely to have COVID and they're more likely to be infected and stuff like that.

 

Asta Kyiv  48:50  

Did you and like your family and other Latinos, you know, did they get vaccinated?

 

David Ferrer  48:56  

Yes, I got vaccinated my whole family got vaccinated my extended family got vaccinated. I do know at one point I think there was like one or two in like the the ends of the family that I think didn't get vaccinated because they're crazy. I do know as time went on, and we started having to get boosters and more boosters and stuff like that. It got to a point where there were some people close to my family like I'm not starting to believe this I think there's a made up they're just doing this now for fun and stuff like that. But when it comes to that, they were all they were always very... they went along with it there they were trusting with it, especially because they don't know a lot of my family trust me when it comes to that and I love to do my research back then. So I was like that was the type of kid you would tell me anything I was immediately on Google doing as much as I could to find out. 

 

Asta Kyiv  49:47  

"Gotta fact check that."

 

David Ferrer  49:47  

But so I would always be like no like this. "We need this like come on like guys like we really need to do it." And so we would do it. Especially because my sister and I we were petty, If someone we found out someone was Republican, which most of my family is Republican. So if we wanted to always run Republican, anti-vaxers, or something like that, we would stop talking to them. We'd give them like side eyes, and we'd stop talking to them and stuff like that. And my parents would always have to deal with that my parents, like they would call it to my parents be like, "Why are they like that?" Just just let it go, just let it go.

 

Asta Kyiv  50:23  

Not much they can say. Okay, so this is the we're moving on to the final questions. Do you feel like you belong in Richmond? 

 

David Ferrer  50:35  

No. 

 

Asta Kyiv  50:36  

Can you elaborate on that?

 

David Ferrer  50:39  

Yes. Um, I don't. Okay, maybe a little bit more now, but I just don't. Okay, I'm gonna say maybe a little bit more now. Because I feel like the Latino population is growing and stuff like that. I do not, don't feel like I belong in Richmond, because I have never, my body has never enjoyed being in Richmond, I do not experience allergies. As bad as I experienced allergies in Virginia, the heat, I love the heat. I'm not one for the cold, I shiver so bad in the cold. And it's awful here in Virginia. I'm just happier literally, anywhere down south where it's warm, especially Florida, I am so happy. But also just when it comes to the people, whenever I go to Florida and what I'm talking about Florida, someone's because I feel like I honestly belong in Florida, or Latin America, none of those two. But whenever I go to Central Florida, it's just I'm happy. I talk to people all the time. And it's just very easy going. There's just I, I become and I get so happy. Like it becomes the type of thing where it's like, I've suffered from depression for a long time here. And it's the type of thing even back then where I suffered where, like a few years ago, where it was deep, deep, deep in depression, I wouldn't leave Virginia to somewhere that's more sunny and stuff like that, and I would get so happy, like my depression would just, it would be so much easier to manage. Even when it comes to my vitamin D levels, I have very, very low vitamin D levels. My doctors told me, it's because of where you live, like if you live somewhere down south, you're gonna get a lot more vitamin D and you're gonna, it's gonna level out. So no, I do not live. I do not belong in Richmond.

 

Asta Kyiv  52:17  

And not- a lot of it is adjacent to you being Latino. 

 

David Ferrer  52:20  

Yes, I would say a lot of it is

 

Asta Kyiv  52:22  

Um, is there- Are there certain cultural practices that you feel like, either you've had to admit- omit in the past, or maybe now that you can no longer omit because you're undergoing or initiation that kind of makes you an outcast? In a way?

 

David Ferrer  52:40  

Yes. 100% a free sample. Um, I currently the way that I had to dress in a white. I walk out in the streets, and I get looks. I can't grab things straight from people's hands right now because for spiritual reasons, reasons. And literally the other day I went down, I went to a store and I was saying they were trying to hand me a receipt. I was like, "Oh, I'm sorry, I can't, I can't grab it. Can you please just put on the counters for religious purposes." And he ended up giving me this nasty stinky side-eye it. And like it became so awkward after that I was at or, for example, I was at a gas station the other day I was filling up and I had to go inside because the thing is, outside working. And I was doing my thing. There was a long line, I was doing my thing. And I was trying to pay and then from the back, I heard "Y'all need to hurry hurry up. Andale! Andale!" I got so angry. And so it's- it's small things like that, that's racking up. But even within my tradition, there are also some things will also during this period of this year long period that I'm going through, there's a lot of rules I have to follow that people don't understand. However, in other places, for example, Venezuela, Cuba, Florida even, people see me they immediately know what I'm doing. They know what religion I'm a part of. They know what process I'm going through. They understand what I'm having to do. And there's certain like activities with my within my religion that's kind of seen as a little weird, or is it a little like? I don't know about that. That's not as accepted here in Virginia, but it's accepted within. It's not accepted here within Virginia, but it's accepted within Florida and any place with the larger Latino community.

 

Asta Kyiv  54:20  

For context, David is dressed completely in white, including a hat and shoes. He can't be photographed for religious purposes as well. But that's something- you can't hide that.

 

David Ferrer  54:34  

Yeah, it's completely- and for example, I've been able, I don't have to show these out. But I have beads on for the different Orishas that I have to wear and I can't hide them and I choose to hide them a lot of the times, especially when I'm going out to places like that. This is another thing that people often see this and they're like, "Oh, what are you doing? What is that about?" But for example, when I've gone through airports and stuff like that, in Miami, it was a lot easier because they knew what I was doing when I was traveling like within Virginia and stuff like that people would look at me and they'd be like, "Oh, like, what are you doing? Oh, you need to take off your beads or you need to take off your hat blah-blah-blah, this and that." I have to always go through the whole rant of this is for religious purposes, I can't be doing that blah-blah-blah."

 

Asta Kyiv  55:13  

So you can't take off your hat or the beads.

 

David Ferrer  55:15  

Beads? I shouldn't unless I'm drinking. I'm not drinking. I can't be drinking right now. There are certain activities that I- I can't have the beads on. Can't really do any of them are now though. So they stay on for the whole time because they're for protection. And this hat Yeah, I have to have this hat 24/7 I sleep with a hat on and everything. Until my three months which is in three weeks. I do three I'm complete three months. But after three months, I go through another ceremony that gives me a few more liberties.

 

Asta Kyiv  55:46  

What do you think about the way that politicians and the general public think about the issue of immigration?

 

David Ferrer  55:53  

i It's a very difficult topic, because I've also had to write a few papers on immigration. And so it is also the type of thing that's like being frank, you can't simply just let everyone in. America is this type of- it's not like an endless country, we can let everyone in my my problem with immigration, though, is, and my problem with the way that people look at immigration is the is the way that people are looking at the people that are going through immigration rather than looking at them as people, they often look at them almost as like creatures or bugs, treating them just awfully. And the thing is America also promises so many false promises to people that makes it so people expect something that they're hoping for more than they come to this place. It- Well first they might not come to this place. And it's a letdown because they were basically promised that they would get in or they come to this place. And it's something completely different than what they expected. But my problem is just that people look at it. People judge the people in a very, in a very cruel way to the point that it's even- what's it called? Extended to to people who aren't immigrants, for example, I've had to deal with some- some, some racist people in the past. And it's the type of thing where it's like, girl I was I was born here. I was literally born in Virginia.

 

Asta Kyiv  57:14  

But what do you want people to know about Latinos?

 

David Ferrer  57:17  

I feel like I would just love for people to know that Latinos, we're just, we're hard working and loving people above anything else. Like we have so much faith, and there's so much that we will refuse to let us- beat us down, like a lot of us have been through so much. And you won't be able to, just because of how we choose to be happy and live our lives. And a lot of people's you just need to give the space to them. I feel like because-

 

Asta Kyiv  57:44  

Yeah.

 

David Ferrer  57:46  

A lot of times Latino- Latino people are always great people, you're always gonna find a few in the bunch. But for the most part, people- Latino people are really going to care for you. It's just a part of the culture.

 

Asta Kyiv  57:54  

Like you were saying warm people. What do you want the public know about your life story? What- What do you want people to take away from this interview?

 

David Ferrer  58:06  

I feel like that's a, that's a difficult one. I feel like you- from my life and my interview, I feel like you can take away that there's, you can ask so many different aspects to life, and your life can go so many different ways that you would never expect. But it really always just, it's, I truly believe it's always for a reason. For example, I was atheist, and I'm a priest, I refuse to believe that I was gay and I was Catholic. I'm a gay man. And I'm not Catholic. I was raised Latino, which is a big part of my culture in a place that was primarily white. And for a while I did refuse that cultural identity. And now look at me, I'm somewhere where it's like, I couldn't be more proud to be Latino, you can have so many different aspects to yourself. And they're also important, and you should really, really appreciate all of them. And just let yourself- just love yourself and let yourself go. I guess.

 

Asta Kyiv  59:03  

There are a lot of different intersections to identity. And a lot of those intersections are also fluid.

 

David Ferrer  59:09  

Mhm, very.

 

Asta Kyiv  59:11  

is there anything else you wanted to talk about today?

 

David Ferrer  59:16  

I don't think so. I feel like you covered a lot of what it means to be Latino in a lot of the different aspects of being Latino. 

 

Asta Kyiv  59:22  

Thank you so much for talking to us. I think we're I think we're done. But thank you, David.