The Audre Lorde Prize recognizes an outstanding article on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, transsexual, and/or queer history.
The members of the Audre Lorde Prize committee wrote:
“The 2022 Audre Lorde Prize is awarded to René Esparza for the essay, “’Qué Bonita Mi Tierra’ Latinx AIS Activism and Decolonial Queer Praxis in 1980s New York and Puerto Rico,” Radical History Review, no 140 (May 2021): 107-141. This essay, which focuses on the work of ACT UP New York’s Latina/o Caucus and ACT UP Puerto Rico, brilliantly showcases the diasporic, transnational, anti-racist, and anti-colonial politics of an influential set of AIDS activists both in New York and Puerto Rico. After describing the early history and distinct politics of ACT UP New York’s Latina/o Caucus, the essay turns to the transnational relationships and developments that led to the founding of ACT UP Puerto and the to the reverberations and transformations that subsequently occurred in New York. As a case study, that highlights the migration of LGBTQ activists, ideas, and strategies in the context of HIV/AIDs, Esparza’s work offers an inspiring new model for doing queer history.”
