Dímelo (“Tell Me About It”) is a digital series offering an irreverent look at Latine identity & representation from the perspective of up-and-coming LGBTQ comedians within the community. It’s a non-traditional interview show offering an acerbic critique of media tropes with unfiltered opinions about how LGBTQ Latine identity is (mis)understood in TV and film, all while learning about our guests – and what they hope to change – in the process.
By mixing interview questions with humorous games inspired by data on LGBTQ equity and representation (including GLAAD studies like ‘Where We Are on TV’ and ‘Accelerating Acceptance’), Dímelo aims to educate while elevating LGBTQ Latine voices and skewering the norms that lead to a lack of Latine representation through comedy with a critical edge.
Dímelo is the creation of the GLAAD Media Institute’s Spanish-Language and Latine Media Team and arose out of a desire to reach younger LGBTQ Latine audiences (who are statistically more likely to identify as LGBTQ than other demographics their age, and more likely be English-dominant in the U.S.) while exploring how comedy can serve as a tool in media advocacy for online audiences.
Dímelo started as a challenge. How could we celebrate Latine Heritage Month in a way that spoke to Latines instead of at them? While the multi-week celebration is a wonderful opportunity to amplify meaningful work and honor important milestones, even during months intended to celebrate Latine communities, we’re expected to educate others about our histories and lived experiences to avoid being flattened or stereotyped in media.
It struck our Spanish-Language & Latine Media team, producer Monica Trasandes and creator Gabe González, that this “month” could be a great opportunity to spotlight comedic performers – not only to showcase the type of Latine talent being underrepresented in media, but to reshape, reclaim and dismantle some of the most tired tropes Latine people encounter every month of theyear.
The goal with Dímelo was to create a comedy-forward interview series that calls out hard truths, critiques stereotypes and reimagines what “Latino representation” can look like, while bringing a sense of play to discovering our guest’s incisive observations. The series expanded GLAAD’s digital voice with a blunt, humorous and smart sensibility that we were confident could resonate with our audience — because the folks guiding the series could speak from experience.
Our four guests are each funny, bold LGBTQ Latines comedians in different spheres of media and performance. Joel Pérez is an accomplished musical theater actor who brings that sensibility to his live comedy acts. River Ramirez is a visual artist and comedic performer known for their work on TV shows like Los Espookys and Birdgirl. Veronica Garza is a working stand-up comic booked at comedy clubs across NYC, who’s toured the U.S. with other comedians. And Mika Kenyah is a podcaster and digital host creating videos and sketches that have gained a dedicated following online as part of the comedy duo These Two Locas.
While we filmed full episodes of Dímelo to share on GLAAD’s YouTube (and via The Advocate’s streaming service), our digital strategy prioritized releasing the interviews through multiple clips on Instagram and TikTok — using questions, games and observations as standalone “segments” shared throughout the week.
Representation behind the camera was also crucial. Not only did we want to emulate what we hope media industries can look like by hiring a Latine director, DP, and editor — it was also a necessity for executing the series successfully. Director Tyler M. Mercer and our DP Lauren Guiteras, as well as our editor Adam Vazquez, all helped guide the creative process in a way that felt fluid and authentic.
In terms of challenges, the realities of being a working comic today means our guests were juggling many responsibilities (freelance jobs, young kids at home, writing deadlines) that made scheduling tricky. But honoring the importance of those responsibilities along with our commitment to bringing together this diverse cast was a challenge worth undertaking.
With Dímelo, we wanted to offer LGBTQ Latine voices the room to playfully skewer assumptions, celebrate our collective imagination and embrace our complexities without the need for explanation.
Dímelo was an intentional shift in GLAAD’s digital voice. While we’re known for demanding fair and accurate representation for LGBTQ people, we’re not known for original comedy content — particularly a Spanglish digital series aimed at Latine audiences balancing sharp humor and incisive media criticism. While this was a risk, it was one our team believed could change how we engage with young adult audiences.
How to keep it real without veering toward cynicism? Finding moments in our interviews to embrace play — to share data through games, imagine a different future through provocative questions, and let comedians lead the conversation — was crucial to finding that balance.
Our social media director’s breakdown of Dímelo’s TikTok and Instagram clips showed our highest views were videos that “push the envelope a little further beyond GLAAD's typical voice,” which he called “a winning strategy.“ Dímelo clips were a particular success on TikTok, garnering some of GLAAD’s highest view and engagement numbers of the year. This season, Dímelo had about half-a-million views across all platforms with TikTok accounting for 271,196.
Most importantly, so much of that engagement — stitches, comments, shares — came from users who identified with the LGBTQ Latine comedians they saw on screen, as well as the themes we explored. While the fight for quality Latine representation in TV and film will be a long one, we don’t have to wait to elevate the voices that can show us the path forward with humor, heart and wit.
