PHOENIX – Daniel Rodriguez has been a part of the immigrant rights movement for as long as he can remember. He is gay, 27 and a law school student who hopes to become an immigration attorney one day.

Rodriguez has no doubt that LGBT rights should be part of comprehensive immigration reform. But these days he finds himself in an uncomfortable position.

“This is one of those times in which our community has to sacrifice something to have a win,” said Rodriguez. 

In the coming days, the Senate could consider an amendment to the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill that would allow U.S. citizens to sponsor their same-sex partners to get a green card. 

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, said on Tuesday that he would not introduce the amendment in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and intends to present it on the floor of the Senate instead.

LGBT rights advocates expressed disappointment that the amendment was withheld Tuesday, the last day of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings.

“We are disappointed that Senator Schumer and his ‘Gang of 8’ colleagues accepted a false choice between LGBT families and immigration reform,” said Rachel Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality Action Fund, “when the truth is that including LGBT families from the outset would have strengthened the bill.”

When Leahy announced the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), the controversial amendment was criticized nationally. Some Republicans and Democrats said that adding protections for same-sex couples could kill the immigration reform bill. 

But those who identify as both queer and undocumented, or “undocuqueer” as they call themselves, beg to differ.

“I agree that it could hurt immigration reform but I don’t think that it would kill it,” said Rodriguez, who is the chair of Somos America, a broad coalition of pro-immigrant groups in Arizona. “I think it’s important to discuss it.”

Still, Rodriguez says that if he knew that an amendment like this would kill immigration reform and he had the power to stop it, he wouldn’t support it.

“It’s hard to the point that it verges on being hypocritical,” he said. “We have built this idea of the American dream for equality, for us to be included. It’s really difficult being that we’ve done it for so long, that in order to get there it may be that we have to put somebody down.”

Dago Bailon, the Arizona chair of the Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project (QUIP), said the chances that the amendment might pass the committee or the Senate floor are slim.

“At the end of the day, I have to ask if I’m willing to sacrifice my family for this issue, at the end of the day if we can have immigration reform without this. We’ll still be OK,” said Bailon, 26.

Both Bailon and Rodriguez, who have work permits under President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, have family members who are undocumented.

The argument against UAFA

President Obama has voiced his support for LGBT rights to be included in any comprehensive immigration bill. But Leahy’s amendment has been sharply criticized by members of the Gang of Eight, including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida.

“It will virtually guarantee that it won’t pass,” Rubio told Politico in an interview. 

Two other Republican members of the group – John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — also made clear their opposition to the amendment, saying it would “kill the bill.” 

Democrats like Chuck Schumer found themselves between a rock and a hard place. Schumer had voiced his support for gay rights in the past, but was unwilling to support the amendment, saying he believed that voting for it would cause the Republicans to walk away from the bill.

Opponents of UAFA argue that under the current immigration proposal, all undocumented people regardless of sexual orientation would be able to apply for a provisional status.

But immigration attorney and LGBT advocate Regina Jefferies explained there is a big difference between getting a temporary work permit and having a chance at a green card through marriage to a U.S. citizen. This last option is not open to same-sex couples, even if they are legally married in one of the 12 states that allows same-sex marriage. 

“People are not aware of the special impact that being in a same-sex married couple has when one of the members is from another country,” she said. “We have too many U.S. citizens living in exile because they can’t sponsor their spouse.” 

Bailon and other advocates believe that an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) could make a difference in allowing same-sex partners a chance at immigration equality like any other couple.

DOMA prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex couples for various benefits including the right to sponsor a spouse for a green card.

If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns it this year, immigration attorneys argue that it will open the door for same-sex couples who were married in states where same-sex marriage is legal to have a chance to apply for a green card through marriage.

Yet, that could be an administrative nightmare, according to Jefferies.

“It will be an unbalanced treatment of LGBT couples,” she said. “You’ll have situations in which people from one state or another won’t be able to petition for a same-sex spouse but they’ll be able to do it in another place.”

Paying lip service to LGBT rights

Youth advocates for immigration and LGBT rights like Mohammad Abdollahi, a member of the National Immigrant Youth Alliance and founder of DreamActivist.org, say there’s a split within the movement when it comes to Leahy’s amendment. 

While some national organizations support the amendment publicly, he said, behind closed doors there’s pushback against it.

“Their support is not real,” he said. 

Furthermore, the argument that repealing DOMA would address the needs of gay couples nationally doesn’t work, according to Abdollahi.

Under UAFA, petitioners would have to prove that they are in a committed relationship as “permanent partners.” 

“Marriage law is state by state; we still have to fight every single state,” he said. “If it passes in immigration reform, it’s a federal change, regardless of laws on marriage.”

Devious Maids at play while the boss is away, played by (left to right): Roselyn Sanchez, Dania Ramirez, Judy Reyes and Ana Ortiz

The number of Latino television writers is at an all-time high, says a new report from the Writers Guild of America, West. But, even Hollywood Latino insiders aren’t gloating yet. The numbers are still in no way proportionally representative of the Latino population in the nation.

Latino writers in televisionland have grown from 1.1 percent of staff writers during the 1999-2000 season to 4 percent during the 2011-2012 season. The latter figure represents about 66 writers out of a total of 1,722 for 190 TV and cable shows.

That’s low when you consider that the almost 50.7 million Latinos comprise 16.7 percent of all Americans, and their numbers are increasing faster than other segment of the U.S. population.  

Los Angeles area film industry writers warn that more Latinos creating more Latino characters doesn’t mean that these roles are going to reflect the authentic Latino experience. Latinos in Hollywood continue to be stereotyped, they add. 

“I think the issue with being a Latino writer is when we are asked to play into the stereotypes of Latino characters,” says Shawna Baca, a writer and filmmaker. “I have seen many times where Latino characters are asked to have heavy accents or to play the gardener, gangster or maid. I thought we would have evolved from those stereotypes and, yet, you still see them.”

One example of what Baca talks about is Lifetime’s June premiere of a new drama, Devious Maids, whose executive producer is Eva Longoria. The ensemble cast includes Ana Ortiz (Ugly Betty), Dania Ramirez (Entourage), Roselyn Sanchez (Without a Trace) and Judy Reyes (Scrubs). These veteran actresses portray five maids with ambition and dreams of their own while working for the rich and famous (guess what ethnicity?) in Beverly Hills. 

On the other hand, Latino portrayals of mainstream characters has increased: detective Christian Arroyo in Golden Boy, doctor Callie Torres in Grey’s Anatomy, and Santana Lopez of Glee.

Jesus Salvador Treviño is a writer/director whose TV credits include Law and Order, ER and many other mainstream shows. He also was co-executive producer on Showtime’s Resurrection Blvd., which portrayed a Latino family in East Los Angeles, a heavily Latino area in which Treviño himself resides. This Hollywood writer and director began his career as a student activist documenting the 1960’s Chicano civil rights movement with a Super-8 camera. He also has created a website, Latinotopia.com, to which he uploads the short films he has made of Latino leaders in all fields. 

“I am a Chicano and I am a director and I am a writer and, above all, I am a storyteller,” he says. “And, all of these are not contradictory qualities but rather complimentary qualities that inform each other and make me better at what I do.” 

Treviño says one obstacle that has not been erased in his more than 30 years in the industry is that minorities continue to be under-represented as executive producers. The majority of producers are still clueless about Latinos, he adds. 

He remembers meeting with a studio executive who asked whether fellow directors, Luis Valdez and Gregory Nava, came from Mexico. “I informed him that both Luis and Greg had been born in the United States.”

One reason there are more Latino writers today is because of pressures put on the TV networks by Latino advocacy groups, such as the National Hispanic Media Coalition, which created “report card” ratings of Latino writers employed on network shows. 

The industry is also economics driven, both writers say, and TV executives are forced to take notice of a population that has a $1 trillion buying power and are the largest consumers of entertainment. 

“I agree that we need minority-specific family shows like (the now defunct series) Resurrection Blvd., American Family, The Brothers Garcia, and The George Lopez Show,” Treviño says, “but this is not enough. No, we need to see Latinos as a thorough and integrated part of all American television.”

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Rep. Jeff Flake and Sen. John McCain. Photo by Connor Radnovich, Cronkite News

The political rhetoric and debates about undocumented immigrants has changed drastically since the U.S. Senate’s “Gang of Eight” – two of whom are Arizonans (Sen. John McCain and Rep. Jeff Flake) – started piecing together comprehensive immigration reform legislation. Where once unauthorized immigrants were referred to as “invaders” and “potential terrorists,” they are now being referred to as “hard-working people” and “boosts to the nation’s economy.” 

“There has been a huge shift in the conversation about undocumented immigrants, from terrorists to law-abiding U.S. citizens,” said Joseph Garcia, a former journalist and now the director of the Morrison Institute Latino Policy Center, during a panel on April 17 titled “U.S. Citizenship: The Economic Pathway.”

Garcia tempered the conversation with a dose of reality about the final product of the piecemeal draft bill revealed on April 15 – ironic timing consider that day was also the deadline for tax filing.

“I don’t think anyone would call this Frankenstein monster of a bill sexy,” he said. “But it’s a first step. It’s anything but ‘instant amnesty.’ And it focuses on workers.”

A new study unveiled during the panel discussion at ASU’s Cronkite School of Journalism asserts that legal status and a path to citizenship for the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants and Arizona’s approximately 160,000 unauthorized workers could mean substantial boosts to the country’s and the state’s economies in the near future. 

Reading between the lines of the study, it reveals the economic arguments that immigrant advocates have been making: unauthorized immigrants are currently earning far less than their potential, paying much less in taxes, and contributing significantly less to the U.S. economy than they potentially could.

The Morrison study examined two immigration reform scenarios: immediate legal status and a path to citizenship within 13 years, and “non-citizenship legalization, which gives immediate legal status that after eight to 10 years can lead to permanent residency status, but provides no path to citizenship.”

The first scenario that promises immediate citizenship, would provide the biggest economic boost, adding from $174 million to $246 million in additional individual income a year in Arizona. These income increases would go primarily to low-income families, making them more financially stable. The additional income spent in Arizona would have a multiplier effect on the state’s  economy, which could mean an overall economic impact of about $200 to $300 million per year. 

The above economic benefits would not result from a legalization program without citizenship, the study says. 

Another point made was that, once these workers were legalized, their employers potentially could invest more in their training, leading to better positions; there would be more jobs created, more small businesses created, and more growth for our state’s economy.

Therefore, the study explains, a path to citizenship means increased earnings and a more skilled workforce. There is also evidence that the legalization of parents will benefit their children, too. Children from economically stable and legal families perform better in school. A more stable education could lead the younger generation to stay in school and aspire to higher education more often, becoming higher-skilled workers. 

“There’s going to be a labor shortage [in the U.S. and in Arizona],” Garcia said, adding that a path to citizenship and a guest-worker program being considered as part of the immigration reform bill would help ease a national and state labor shortage that could possibly result in an economic recession.

A copy of the Morrison Institute Latino Policy Center study can be downloaded at Morrisoninstitute.asu.edu/Latinos

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But, as I write this, I can’t help but take the news coming out of Boston right now personally. 

The granddaddy of all marathons – the Boston Marathon – marred by terrorism; explosions set off at the finish line; hundreds of people injured; several people dead, including an eight-year-old child. 

I am outraged, horrified and so saddened.

My family has stood to cheer me on just feet from where the first explosion went off.

I know the euphoria that a runner feels when the finish line comes into view. This city embraces this marathon like no other. It’s more than a marathon; it’s an experience. 

What happened in Boston is absolutely sickening. 

My phone started going off shortly after noon on Patriots Day, also known as Marathon Day in Boston. 

I’ve run it the last two years, three years in all. I didn’t realize how many people didn’t know I’d be sitting out this year’s race to rehab an injury after last year’s record-breaking Boston Marathon heat.

The phone rang, the texts went off and social media messages started coming in almost immediately from people wanting to know if I was okay. Right away I thought about Bonnie, my friend and executive producer who was running her first Boston Marathon. The explosions went off right about the time I figured she’d be crossing. I called her frantically and, when I got her voice mail, I panicked. I turned on the TV and sat in horror as I saw the video of the explosion and the terrified looks on the faces of spectators as they scattered like bugs. I watched in horror as runners collapsed and cried in disbelief.

I know Boylston Street well. I know how packed it gets with cheering people lined up along it, using their voices to give runners that last boost of energy. I know that last turn of the corner less than a mile from where the explosions went off. I know that had I been there this year, my sister, my daughter and my fiancé would have been just feet from where the first bomb went off, just as they had been before. 

The reality of all what could have been – and all that is – is simply surreal. 

For all the victims, my heart breaks. Their world will never be the same.

Bonnie crossed the finish line 15 minutes before the explosions. She was safe and we were all so relieved.

When my co-anchor walked in to work today, the first thing he did was give me a hug. 

We both got emotional tonight during the newscast, thinking about the “what ifs.”

Tonight we couldn’t help but show we are more than just faces on a screen. We are real people with real emotions.

Tonight the news got personal and we weren’t afraid to show it.

Catherine Anaya anchors CBS 5 News weeknights at 5, 5:30, 6 and 10 p.m. She is a mother of two, marathon runner and motivational speaker. Reach her at catherine.anaya@cbs5az.com; connect with her on Facebook, twitter and at CatherineAnaya.com.

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Elizabeth Barrett Browning

A poet’s voice has a way of lasting from generation to generation and, in each era, the poet’s words ring true. Born in England on March 6, 1806, Elizabeth Barrett Browning was the author of the poem, How Do I Love Thee, which has endured the test of time and is considered one of the finest poems of the Victorian era. Most students in high school will, at one time or another, study her poem and listen to the rhythm and cadence of its words, perhaps opening their hearts to the poem’s deeper meaning, a meaning that transcends time. 

Her opening stanzas begin with a question: How do I love thee? Then she begins a series of answers to the question posed: Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach, etc. She sees love as a “quiet need,” and as something freely, purely and passionately given. By the end of the poem, Elizabeth has given profound new insights to something we often take for granted. Writing the poem was also her way of expressing her love for her husband, Robert Browning, who had introduced himself to her as an avid fan of her poetry via letters. He wrote: “I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett.” Unfortunately, Robert Browning was considered a lower-class gold-digger by Elizabeth’s father and, due to her marriage to him, she was disinherited from her father’s estate and lived most of her married life abroad in Europe. 

Beginning her writing career at the age of six, Elizabeth took on the social issues of the day in her poems, especially the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica where her family owned land and businesses. Her adherence to the belief that slavery was cruel and violated human rights led her to put pen to paper and write rousing poems such as The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point in which she describes the brutal beating and rape of a black woman who, even in the midst of suffering horrific cruelty, still cursed the slave-owners. 

What does an English poet writing in the 1800s mean to Latinos in Arizona today? First of all, Elizabeth used her artistic abilities to send vital messages of love and hope to heal the sufferings of those around her. In a similar fashion, hundreds of artists living in Arizona and across the Southwest have responded to the unjust treatment of our immigrant community by employing their artistic abilities to challenge the destructive waves of prejudice and racism that rise again and again to injure thousands and victimize innocents with abusive, unjust laws. 

In spite of suffering chronic illnesses, Elizabeth was able to rise above the discrimination that existed against women writers in the masculine-dominated Victorian era and continued throughout her life to look deep into her own heart for the things that truly mattered to her. In considering the women recently honored as Trailblazers in Arizona, and those who shared in creating the PBS Special, Makers: Women Who Make America, I am grateful for the women, mothers, grandmothers, tías and primas who have stood up to the cruelties they have encountered, expressing in so many ways to family, friends and community the same love Elizabeth wrote about in her poems.

The last words of Elizabeth’s poem, How Do I Love Thee?, summarize the world of love in a most profound way, and lead us to understand that love on earth is only the beginning of eternal love:

I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears, of all my life! – and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.

Stella Pope Duarte was born and raised in South Phoenix. She began her award-winning career in 1995 after she had a dream in which her deceased father told her that her destiny was to become a writer. Contact her at stellapopeduarte.com.

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I am a Latina Still Standing, but not of my own accord. I stand tall today because of my faith, family and friends – one of whom has just been laid to rest.

Nine years ago, I became friends with a man named Eddie Basha. He was godsend to me during one of the most difficult periods of my life. 

My older sister, 40 years old at the time, had a surgery and she nearly died from subsequent complications. What should have been a simple medical procedure turned into the worst nightmare for my sister; she was in a coma for several months and her prognosis wasn’t good. While she was in intensive care, I had started a new job as the communication and public affairs director for Basha’s, Inc., and had met with each of the senior leadership team, which included Basha family members and the CEO, Eddie Basha.

I told them about my sister because her situation was weighing on me so much. Eddie made special trips regularly to my office to ask how my sister was doing; we even prayed a couple times. Less than two months into the job, I was called away from planning a big conference for our store managers and directors and rushed to the hospital to sign for acute dialysis when I was told that my sister’s kidneys were failing. While I was waiting in the lobby to see if my sister was going to make it, I received a phone call from someone asking me where I was. I informed them that I was in the lobby of the hospital. I was told to stay there.

I saw a friend of my father’s walk in with a DPS officer and they asked me to sit down. They told me my father was just killed on the I-17 in Phoenix. Much of what happened after that moment is still a blur to me, but at some point I had to call my job and let them know what had happened, and that I would need to take some time off. I didn’t know what they would say, considering I had been on the job less than two months. With no hesitation, I was told to take as much time as was needed and that they were all praying for me.

While I was off, Eddie’s office informed me that he wanted to provide the food for the reception after the services for my father. I was so moved by his kindness. On the day of the services in a packed church in South Phoenix, I saw Eddie, his sons, the president of Basha’s and many of the senior leadership walk into the church to pay their respects to my father, a man they never knew. That is an example of the compassion and support that has enabled me to be a Latina Still Standing.

That is the kind of man Mr. Eddie Basha was to me and to countless other people. I am honored to have known him and to have called him my friend. I am grateful that God sent me to work for Eddie and his family during one of the toughest times in my life, and I believe God used one of His special servants to lift me up while I was down.

When I heard of the news of Eddie’s passing, my heart was heavy and I felt a tremendous loss. I am grateful to have personally experienced Eddie’s generous spirit, his witty sense of humor and his compassion for people.

Thank you for extending your hand in my time of need. Descanse en paz, EB.  

Diana Bejarano is an Arizona native and a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Reach her at latinastillstanding@yahoo.com or latinastillstanding.blogspot.com

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“Boston is probably the only major city that if you f*#% with them, they will shut down the whole city …  stop everything … and find you.”

It’s hard not to agree with the sentiment expressed in this tweet by Adam Sandler, a New Englander himself, shortly after last month’s horrific bombings at the Boston Marathon.  

Just as on September 11, 2001, I learned of the explosions while listening to the radio. Not yet knowing the severity of the events, I proceeded to take my 14-month-old son to get his first barbershop haircut. 

That’s when the news worsened. My little boy, sitting on my lap, began to cry uncontrollably. The shop was crowded yet quiet, as everyone held their breath, their hands either on their heads or covering their mouths. Although my baby’s crying was about his haircut, his heavy sobs must have expressed the feeling everyone in the shop was beginning to experience. 

The barber never finished – I had to get home and comfort my little boy. That moment was the beginning of a long and surreal week filled with sorrow, anger and anticipation. What made the Boston bombings so unique, compared to other terror attacks, is that a real-time manhunt ensued, filled with confusion, erroneous reporting and terrible speculations. 

By now, most people have learned of the many heroic acts displayed by everyday people like Carlos Arredondo. The Costa Rica native who was handing out American flags to honor fallen soldiers, including his own son, came to the aid of a man who had both of his legs blown off below the knee. For a long time, I couldn’t get the image of “the man in the cowboy hat” wheeling the injured individual to safety out of my mind.

A few days later, those thoughts were interrupted when I learned of a shooting on the MIT campus minutes before I was going to turn in for the night. I found myself glued to my television and laptop, flipping channels and surfing the web to find out as much information as I could, thinking there might be a connection to Monday’s events. It was bizarre, seeing the now famous events develop in real time. I finally had to go to bed at four a.m.  

That next morning, I reflected about my own place in Boston. Moving here was a culture shock in many ways. As much as I had networked and met many wonderful people, becoming active in two Latino professional organizations, I still felt like a perpetual visitor to a city filled with so much history and culture. Plus, I was a rare Chicano, a pocho lost in Boston. 

But, the week of April 15 changed everything. I began to feel an affinity with a town that I previously thought of as somewhat intimidating, whose residents seemed unfriendly to those not like them. Boston, after all, does have a history marked with racial strife. 

I’m not sure what I would have done had I attended the Marathon that fateful day. Our minds can be filled with “what ifs” in these situations. I like to think that “if” I had been there, I would have run to the aid of my fellow Bostonians.

Prior to moving to Boston with his family, Dan Cortez managed and facilitated the Hispanic Leadership Institute for Valle del Sol. Born in Juarez, Dan grew up in Peoria and graduated from ASU with a B.S. in Business. He previously wrote the column “Pocho Keen” for LPM. Dan and his wife Maria have two sons, Nicolas George and William Daniel. 

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I knew I’d feel frustrated by having to pack everything I own and physically move it to a new home knowing nothing would be out of its box or in its right place for days, if not weeks. But, what I didn’t expect was the emotion I’d feel for some of the things I was leaving behind.

It’s been exactly six years since I last moved. I remember the excitement I felt at getting the keys to my own, post-divorce home. It felt good to buy furniture knowing I didn’t have to ask what somebody else thought first. Everything, from where I’d place my TV to what kind of sheets I put on my bed, was my decision and I loved everything these possessions represented.

So, as I stood the other night in the middle of the near empty house, I had mixed feelings. I looked at the holes in the wall where my pictures once hung, remembering that it was one of my bosses and her husband who came over that first weekend after I moved in to help me hang them.

I looked at the barbecue grill in the backyard remembering another co-worker who came over with his son one afternoon so they could assemble the grill for me, along with a desk and bar stools, too. 

The boxed Christmas tree in the garage was too big for me to put together by myself that first Christmas in my home. All it took was the promise of some pizza, and some of our production guys were there to put it up and take it down for me after the holidays.

The TV stand? Yup, one of the editors at work put that together for me.

On the outside, they’re just things. But I see them as more. They’re also lovely reminders of how much my friends and co-workers rallied around me when I needed the help. 

We’ve heard it takes a village to raise a child. Well, sometimes it takes the same to help carry an adult through transitions in life and I’m, oh, so grateful for my little village of co-workers I also call friends.

As for the neurosis stimulated by the oodles of boxes? I’m learning to temper it knowing that everything will eventually find its place. More important is taking a few moments to stop and appreciate the new beginning these boxes represent; something my son’s fourth-grade teacher affirmed for me with this one sentence e-mail she sent about him:

“[He] is glowing with the move, new house, and your upcoming marriage!”  

It doesn’t get much better than that!

Catherine Anaya anchors CBS 5 News weeknights at 5, 5:30, 6 and 10 p.m. She is a mother of two, marathon runner and motivational speaker. Reach her at catherine.anaya@cbs5az.com, connect with her on Facebook, twitter and at CatherineAnaya.com.

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Many of my Latina friends are in their early 40s, and there’s been a change from the topics we conversed about in prior decades to the ones we discuss now. 

Topics include aging and changing our lives. Some talk about internal changes: belief systems that are no longer working, breaking old habits, exercise and nutrition, and managing stress better. Others talk more about changes they could make on the outside: facials, Botox and plastic surgery. 

We all want to hold on to our youth. As Hispanics, we are fortunate to have great genes; many Latinas I know look five to ten years younger than their age. Still, they are still women on the quest to remain youthful.

Is this what is meant by a “mid-life crisis”? Now entering my fourth decade, I was curious about the phenomenon.  According to several sources, some of the characteristics of a mid-life crisis (which usually occurs between the ages of 40 and 60) is that people often perceive their lives as in drastic decline. Some other common feelings are a sense of remorse for goals not accomplished or a sense that one’s goals remain undefined. Others translate their loss of youthfulness to feeling inferior to more successful colleagues.

I believe this period can be beneficial for Latinas who often make the best of any situation. It’s a time when we can re-evaluate our lives and make changes to shift our efforts to line up with new goals. Working on our insides is often harder than working on our outward appearance.

However, some Latinas I know are opting for cosmetic surgery at mid-life. One of them, named Lily, recently underwent a dramatic change and had a “Latina Miami Makeover™.”  At 41 years old, Lily decided that she wanted to change a few things about her body that nature had altered after having borne three children.

She said the surgery gave her a boost in confidence and helped her tremendously in her business interactions as a dance instructor and wedding/quinceañera planner. She was lucky, she says, to have found a board-certified plastic surgeon that speaks fluent Spanish and understands the culture. Many of the other surgeons she researched didn’t have the kind of certifications she felt comfortable with. 

Lily cautions women who are thinking about plastic surgery to make sure that they feel comfortable with the rapport they have with their surgeon. “Before” and “after” photos can give you some indication of a surgeon’s ability, but they cannot guarantee the result you will achieve.

The American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery suggests that you look into the surgeon’s credentials and experience. Ask for referrals from friends, and find out where the surgery will be performed. Another resource is the American Society of Plastic Surgeons; to find a member surgeon, visit ASPS.org.

Each Latina’s mid-life experience is different and, though I have never undergone any type of plastic surgery, I realize that in some cases it can make a huge difference in a person’s life.

Sometimes change can be subtle and come from within; other times it comes in the form of a total body makeover. 

As a Latina, I support other Latinas who choose to make changes in their lives on the inside or on the outside.

Diana Bejarano is an Arizona native and a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Reach her at latinastillstanding@yahoo.com or latinastillstanding.blogspot.com

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Your child’s backpack may be hazardous to their health, according to health advocates protesting the high level of phthalates in products made from vinyl

The protesters at the Disney annual shareholders meeting last month at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Phoenix were as welcome as Wreck-It Ralph. 

The environmental health advocates called on the mega-corporation to stop making products for children that they claimed contained toxic chemicals. The children’s products they targeted were Disney lunch boxes, backpacks and rain coats, some of the most popular items for young students going back to school. 

These Disney school supplies contain phthalates in quantities up to 59 times the safety level for this category of chemical, according to a 2012 report by the Center for Health, Environment and Justice.

“We would like Disney to do what’s right and safeguard our children’s health by eliminating these unnecessary harmful chemicals and plastic,” said Steve Brittle, president of Don’t Waste Arizona, a statewide organization.  

Brittle pointed out that Latino children constitute a large percentage of the consumers of these school products. Disney markets to Hispanics in a big way, and that outreach will grow, according to a Disney consumer analysis. The number of Hispanic children between between the ages of 6 and 11 years old is expected to increase 40 percent by 2015, and marketers will want to develop new ways to increase brand awareness and use by this group. 

Hispanic characters, such as Dora the Explorer and Princess Sofia (although her Hispanic ancestry has been debated), directly appeal to young Hispanics. The entertainment corporation also has Spanish-language websites, magazines and blogs, and quinceañera balls at their Disney resorts. 

Disney has publicly denied that their vinyl products pose dangers. “Producing safe and high quality products is our top priority and we meet or exceed all applicable safety standards set forth by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the FDA and numerous other safety organizations,” they said in a statement. 

Phthalates have been banned in toys because of their link to birth defects, ADHD, asthma and other health conditions. Brittle emphasized that Hispanic women should be concerned, because they have a higher fertility rate than other populations. 

According to test results by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), children are the most vulnerable to exposure to these hazardous chemicals. The CDC also reported that many common housuehold plastic products contain phthalates. 

Other protest tactics used by environmental health advocates include on-line petitions to Disney on change.org and MomsRising.org.

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