Walter mercado es gay
The Puerto Rican astrologer and psychic Walter Mercado’s huge success on Latinx and Latin American television was always tied to his baroque excess and gender non-conformity, to the way he mixed popular religiosity, New Age esoteric values, and over-the-top theatrical camp aesthetics to share an uplifting message centered on love and self-affirmation. He is a Puerto Rican transloca performer par excellence, that is to state, a bilingual, bicultural, homosexual, effeminate, and androgynous creator whose translocal life experiences and work reflected particular sensibilities and cultural styles; a gender non-conforming pioneer who never publicly self-identified as gay, but who negotiated the space of the “open secret” as a strategy to retain homophobia at bay. I analyze the Netflix documentary Mucho, Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado (2020) in dialogue and tension with other cultural productions, including YouTube videos such as “Walter Mercado Vintage Era,” Mercado’s books Beyond the Horizon: Visions of the New Millennium (1997) and El mundo secreto de Walter Mercado (2010), Noelia Quintero Herencia’s documentary Walter Mercado: Más allá de la astrología (2002), Fausto Fernós’s
The hugely popular Puerto Rican television astrologer Walter Mercado – who was also an iconic queer figure in the Spanish-speaking world – died on 2 November 2019 at the age of 88 (some reports say 87).
His daily astrology prediction shows were broadcast for decades throughout Latin America, Puerto Rico and the Together States and were known and loved for their “melodrama”, according to a Time report. The news magazine described his TV performances as “delivered…with an exaggerated trilling of the ‘r’. He favoured colourful brocaded capes and colossal gemstone rings, which he flashed while pointing at viewers”. He owned more than 2,000 capes, many bejewelled, embroidered or feathered.
The HistoryMiami museum reports that Mercado’s shows “reached 120 million Latino viewers a time for more than 30 years”. The BBC added: “Some lucky viewers would be promised adoration , others were urged to stop holding grudges.”
Time magazine wrote that “Mercado never publicly discussed his sexual orientation but his screen presence was a provider of comfort for many people in lesbian, gay, fluid and transsexual communities throughout Latin American and Latin communities in the U.S….according to Alex
Was Gender-Bending Astrologer Walter Mercado a Member of the LGBTQ Community?
We cannot stay to dive endorse into our youths and learn more about Latinx diva Walter Mercado, whose voice we can still hear in our heads saying the names of the astrological signs in Spanish (many of us even learned the Spanish names for the signs thanks to him and his signature exaggerated "r" trill).
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The flamboyant and androgynous Puerto Rican TV astrologer is the subject of Netflix's latest documentary that borrows its title from Walter's catchphrase: Mucho Mucho Amor.
The extravagant, cape-donning fortune teller was a hero to an entire generation of Latinx youths, and perhaps even more so in the Latin Queer community, who felt an innate kinship with the gender-nonconforming personality.
At the close of his being especially, audiences wanted to know for certain whether Walter Mercado was male lover or straight, and whether he had a significant other in his experience. Keep reading for everything we comprehend about this secret figure's private life.
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Was Walter Mercado gay?
Walter was in a league of his own,
With ‘Mucho Mucho Amor,’ Walter Mercado Solidifies His LGBTQ Icon Status
Walter Mercado (Photo courtesy of Netflix)
Growing up there were three things that for sure happened in my house: we watched telenovelas before, during, and after dinner (name one novela and we can probably get deep into it), sang along to Juan Gabriel’s iconic songs (no, I wasn’t a singer, but with Juanga it’s about the lyrics and what they make you feel), and witnessed the spectacle of Walter Mercado’s horoscope readings. Yes, spectacle.
I’m a Libra. We’re ruled by the planet Venus, named after the Roman goddess of love. We adore adjust, beauty, and diplomacy. Making a decision will always be the bane of our existence. And that’s all I learned from Walter about Libras. Sometimes I relate to those mainstream notions of my zodiac sign, but most of the time I leave wondering if that’s really who I am.
Trying to characterize my identity was —and is still— an ongoing process. When I was a kid, it was definitely harder, but something clicked when I saw Walter Mercado for the first period on TV. I was around four or five. Univision’s Primer Impacto was on. On the tail end of the telecast,