Cicero Writer, Jose Quinones, Shares His Story to Make Space For Other Queer Voices

“It's important to tell your story the way it is so that other people like you can feel comfortable in their own skin or in their own voices, or in their own experiences.”

Image description: A person with a jean jacket, dark button up shirt with black glasses, short dark brown hair and light skin. He has his hands in his jacket pockets. Behind him are trees to the right and a blue sky.

Jose Quinones is a long time resident of Cicero and stands near his home in Cicero, Ill on March 19th, 2021 (Photo by April Alonso).

By April Alonso

Leer en Espanol

*This has been edited for clarity and is part of a series of writer profiles. Check out Michelle Ramirez’s profile here.

Jose Quinones has lived in Cicero since he was 2 years old, so his mom could be near her family. After graduating from DePaul, Quinones moved to Dallas for 2 years for a job then moved back to Cicero to take care of parents who remain in Cicero.

Quinones' memories of growing up in Cicero center around time spent hanging out with people after school, spending time outside, being on track and field and the clicks that were formed. These scenic memories are what stand out to Quinones and how these years as a young person felt nonsensical back then.

Quinones recently published a short story in an anthology called Sweeter Voices Still: An LGBTQ Antology in Middle America. The anthology centers queer voices from the Rust Belt from different writing styles, languages and ethnicities.

In the past, Quinones has been inspired to write by the monotony of everyday life, such as watching his parents do crossword puzzles, or times when fun,exciting events happen while hanging out with friends.

Cicero Independiente talked to Quinones about his writing and inspiration. As told to April Alonso.

I still very much like to bring up the past in my writings so I don't think I have any barriers as to what I'd like to write, or what I should write.

In the end, I'm usually writing what I feel are little kinds of inspiration I get in these times. My writing is usually whatever I feel- if it's, ‘Hey, your last date that went wrong that was a little too sexual or non sexual enough and so be it’ or about my mom making tamales and how she folds the meat into the dough and whatever that may look like.

Cover of Sweeter Voices Still (Courtesy of Belt Publishing)

My piece [in the anthology] incorporates both English, in the speaking and the narration and Spanish, the conversations are in Spanish. I wanted to do that because I wanted the feeling of what me and my mom are going through in the Spanish aspect so that people can really feel it and immerse themselves in it.

There are other pieces within the anthology that also use their native tongue. That’s one of the main reasons why my piece within the book as a whole is very beautiful. It incorporates all of that, it doesn't hold back and it doesn't whitewash the book or the voices.

It's important [to have queer writers of color published] because If you're trying to tell your story, you want to tell your story in a way that makes it accessible to other queer people of color not to pander to cis, hetero normative white people, then that defeats the purpose of your story.

It's important to tell your story the way it is so that other people like you can feel comfortable in their own skin or in their own voices, or in their own experiences. I think it's very important, because there’s so much of the white perspective out there rather than bringing up the struggles that other cultures or other backgrounds may have that aren't necessarily that lucky or that well heard of, or well thought of.

[My contribution to the anthology] is called Kindergarten. It's about a rainy afternoon day back in high school when I was charging my iPod because yes, I used to have an iPod.

I was charging it because I was getting ready to go downtown to clear my mind. That's what I used to do. I would go downtown and take the pink line to Randolph and Wabash, get off, get a coffee, walk around and then come back late at night.

My mom was cooking in the kitchen, watching Primer Impacto. I was just reminiscing of how we sort of sat down and I was looking outside thinking about the first time, I knew that I was gay which was in kindergarten.

We were getting a story read to us and I was just looking around the room and I remember the room so vividly. I went to kindergarten at Wilson and this one boy that I was sitting next to, I just kept thinking he's pretty.

I just remember looking around making sure no one was looking and I leaned over and I kissed him on the cheek and that feeling stuck with me. That feeling of why are you kissing boys on the cheek when I've been told that I should marry a woman and be with a woman.

Then the story talks about how I hid my sexuality from my parents and how at the end, it was for no reason at all because [my mom] ended up saying, ‘I've known and I still love you.’

What I mostly want [others] to takeaway is that even as you get older, you can still change. As you get older you learn different lives and experiences that can change your point of view. You can learn to accept other people as the way that they are, even though they may be different from you based on whatever it is you've been indoctrinated with or been taught as a child. There are always gray spaces and those gray spaces are oftentimes, the spaces we often forget and could very well change our perspective in life and how we view it and navigate it.

I felt like I was smiling all over again when I got a copy of the book. I just kept smiling and kept looking at it, and just going through every single page.

Obviously my parents were very supportive. They're like, ‘Oh, my god, yes, our son is a rock star, and super famous.’ I had a bunch of friends who bought copies. Everyone was just super supportive and said this is good. We love your piece. You know, we loved everything you did.

You can find Sweeter Voices Still: An LGBTQ Antology in Middle America on Belt Publishing’s website

April Alonso is a co founder of Cicero Independiente.