09/30/2025
I am so proud of my heritage and it was incredibly empowering to reflect back on my ancestors and family lineage as we enter Hispanic heritage month. Thank you to Lisette at the Utah Pride Center for your support and for sharing my story!
Meet Joselyn Romero (they/them)! They are the owner of Arches Healing and Growth, where they provide affirming mental health care for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities. As a therapist, they are committed to breaking cycles of silence and creating spaces of healing, resilience, and authenticity. Outside of work, they stay grounded through cooking, music, and spending time with their two cats.
When asked, how have your family history, cultural traditions, or ancestral roots shaped your identity or path, especially as an LGBTQ+ Latinx/Hispanic the transgender Ecuadorian from New York City said, ""My family history and cultural traditions as a Latinx person have shaped both the challenges and the strengths of my identity. Growing up, I often felt the tension between traditional expectations and my own truth as a Transgeder person. Family values like loyalty, community, and resilience were deeply instilled in me, but so were rigid gender roles and ideas about what love and family should look like. That conflict pushed me to do a lot of inner work and learn how to honor my roots while also creating space for authenticity.
Cooking has always been one of the ways I connect back to my roots and to my ancestors - like the smell of rice and lentils simmering. Food has always been a bridge for me even when words were hard to find, sharing a meal was a way to show love and care. As a Trans person, cooking has become a way to create my chosen family, to gather people around a table, and to carry forward the parts of my culture that nourish rather than wound.
Ecuadorian traditions, like honoring my ancestors and family lineage and holding on to joy even in times of struggle, have taught me to move through the world with resilience. At the same time, my queerness has challenged me to reimagine what family and love can look like, to break cycles of silence, and to live authentically. My path is both an honoring and a rewriting: I carry my ancestors’ strength, but I also create new traditions rooted in being open, healing, and owning my truth.
