Inspired Series: How to adverse when Identity and Culture clash

Her Honduran culture categorizes queerness as taboo, struggles to differentiate the words “crazy” from “depressed”, and highly values education.

At age 16, Geo Hernandez discovered her queer identity, at age 20, Geo went through a period of depression, and at age 21, Geo nearly flunked out of Florida State University (FSU) as a math major.

“I was that kid. That spanish-speaking kid, very shy, not as engaged. But I had all this life in me,” Geo said. “Now I’m 26 and I’m like ok I’m going to take care of myself. I‘m going to live my life.”

Today, Geo is openly-queer, an alumna of FSU who graduated with a 4.0 and a degree in Sociology, and a well-paid non-profit Program Manager who sees a therapist regularly.

Her unyielding determination to live by her own beliefs all began in the immigrant-rich city of Miami. It was here where her single mother, who migrated from Honduras at the age of 21, raised Geo and her 3 siblings with traditional Honduran principles.

It wasn’t too long until Geo’s homosexual identity clashed with such traditional principles.

“My sister and I figured out we were gay at the same time,” Geo recalled. “She came out at 16 and it was a shitshow.”

For the next few years, Geo witnessed the pain her mom experienced as she struggled to accept her daughter’s sexual preferences that failed to adhere to those of the Honduran culture.

Geo decided she did not want to be “a second disappointment” to her mother and thus stayed silent about her own queer identity–– that is, until she met her now current partner during her senior year at FSU.

Betty Fuentes, Geo’s partner who also works at a non-profit organization, describes the first time she met Geo as comical and unforgettable.

“I was on the floor making a cape. I was writing on this cape when she comes in and stands over me ,” Fuentes began. “And she says “you know that’s crooked right?”.”

Fuentes, a freshman at the time, quickly learned that this brutal honesty was something engrained in Geo’s disposition. As their relationship grew serious, Geo decided to use her brutal honesty to come out to her mother who, over time, came to terms with her daughter’s choice.

Just as Geo struggled to reveal her queer identity to her mother, she also struggled to reveal the truth about her mental health to herself.

During her junior year of college, Geo began to experience unprecedented feelings of loneliness and confusion. Every time she would visit home, her mom would inquire about school but never her well being––yet another habit that prevented Geo from fully establishing her identity.

“I was almost depressed and didn’t know it,” Geo said.

After linking her mental health to the fact that she was only pursuing a major in math because of the pressure from her mother, she switched her major to Sociology.

This academic transition marked a significant change in Geo’s life: she would try to stop living a life dictated by others’ opinions and desires, but a life that embraced her identity.

Embracing identity, to Geo, means dedicating her time and career to teaching and exposing the youth to gender identification, sexual behavior and safety, socioeconomic limitations, cultural differences, accessing resources, and the rudiments of health–– all topics that lead to her identity struggle at a young age and that apply to her identity at her current age.

Geo wants to prevent others from experiencing the same struggles she experienced in her earlier years.

She wants the new generation to become comfortable expressing and establishing their individual identities in an open fashion.

During one of her first teaching experiences, Geo was exposed to a group of ten-year olds that showed up “in ripped clothes” to school.

“Poverty shows up in so many ways,” Geo admitted. “But I’m stuck on 10 because you’re a baby. Some of them still believed in Santa Clause.”

As Senior Program Manager of Peer Health Exchange (PHE), an organization dedicated to teaching health-related topics to typically low-funded high schools, Geo experienced an epiphany.

“It was through listening to volunteers normalize mental health issues that I realized “oh man” I need to seek support,” Geo said.

This defining moment put into perspective the value of spreading awareness for Geo which inspired her to share this lesson with others.

This hard-working, relentless human being once fearing the open expression of her identity will soon be the director of an institution that embraces identity loud and proud.

“It’s incredible how someone could not only survive from this [her past] but thrive from this,” Fuentes said.