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Queer Resistance Fragments. Photo collage by Oscar M Caballero. Photo credits in the diagram. I grew up silently queer, in a city loudly proud of its flamboyant cultural festivities. Research finds common inspiration for its appointment in the colorful floral landscape of the city in the 18th century. Although for as long as I can recall, referring to Masaya as the city of flowers was also used as a pejorative mocking of queerness— because of a notorious presence of queer folks actively engaging in art and culture, not only as performers but as artisans, designers, educators and stewards of traditions.

For decades, a void of kindness and respect has always existed in speaking about queer people, but in the absence of language, there was dance.

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In Masaya, culture has been—in many ways—a veil to experience the queer self from underneath, a threshold, a less discriminatory space where exploring the way our bodies move, dress and express is free of guilt whenever the marimba, the drums or the chicheros play and the dancing blurs identities.

Photo by Articulo Photo collage by Oscar M Caballero, It is also evident that in Nicaragua, queer is a club of resistance towards strong conservative urban structures. In fact, if I think of queering the city, I reminisce disobedience as imperative to destabilize heteronormativity.

Either by acts of defiance towards the oppressor or self-acceptance that allows you to visualize yourself within the context of a home, school, nicaragua and country. Queer theory applied to the built environment amplifies the understanding of identities that are not heteronormative. The school system in Masaya, where I grew up, emphasizes cultural and artistic studies including dance, poetry writing and reciting or playing a musical instrument.

Culture in this city has a way to become an umbrella for young queer people to explore their identity beyond discrimination or shame. Most of the dancing educators were part of the queer collective, meaning that their art was a conduit for them to disrupt the heteronormative network and gradually build their own place in society.

The alienation from conventional social norms generates a desire to build community and social agency. The crafting of a new architectural formal language is linked to the new programs generated by users not fitting in the status quo. In this process, each community creates managua of its cultural identity to transfer them into material and ephemeral artifacts that become carriers of their stories.

By Oscar M Caballero, Queer spaces are not only those occupied in a certain way by queer people but also those that stand for inclusivity or challenge the politics of socio-territorial oppression. The contributors discuss the architectural character and the stories behind their creation, as well as their historical memory. However, temporary collective events powered by territorial resistance can allow for future permanence.

In Masaya, the spectrum of queer spatiality can be identified at various urban scales and levels of permanence. From queered spaces by the addition of a queer program to temporary urban activations such as the cultural parades and traditional folk dances across the city that have been celebrated for gay, representing one of the most influential transcultural devices for the stratification of queer identity and architecture in the region.

Photography: Clody Aleman. The dancers choose a theme for their costumes and exuberant paraphernalia usually inspired by native, colonial, traditional, ethnic, or even international motifs, parading across the city past houses and urban landmarks.