Gabby Rivera: for being the first queer Latina to write for Marvel Comics

Her name is America Chavez. She is the first queer Latina Marvel superheroine. She faces a number of difficulties as a lesbian Latina. But she also has superpowers.

“I’ve always dreamt up wild, powerful and carefree superheroes that look like me and my family: thick, brown, goofy, beautiful," Rivera told The Washington Post. "And now I get to see them come to life. ‘America’ is going to be all those things and it’s [going to] be wild.”

In 2016 she published her novel 'Juliet Takes a Breath,' about a young lesbian Latina and her age into adulthood. For Rivera, the book is about the representation of queer brown women who bravely seek their place in the world. That’s why the protagonist’s last name is Palante, which means “Forward” in Spanish.

“Many of us never leave the block, the Bronx or a certain mindset, believing we can only be a certain way, live a certain way, wear certain clothes,” she told Latina. “There are huge systems trying to control what we are doing; yet, at our core, our people have always said to raise your brown and black fists, march on and move forward.”