Jose Antonio Vargas on the LGBTQ movement, immigration, and the importance of storytelling

Every day of Pride Month, Mashable will be sharing illuminating conversations with members of the LGBTQ community who are making history right now.

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Jose Antonio Vargas knows the importance of strikingly powerful storytelling.

Since coming out of the closet at age 18 he's made remarkable efforts to share his own personal narrative with the world — as a journalist, author, filmmaker, and producer.

In 2011, Vargas wrote an essay for the New York Times Magazine in which he revealed that he was an undocumented immigrant living in America. Earlier that year, Vargas founded Define American, a non-profit media and culture organization that aims to "humanize the conversation on immigration" and change the way immigrant's stories are told.

SEE ALSO: This lawyer helped legalize same-sex marriage. Here's what she's working on now.

Vargas also wrote a story for Time Magazine in2012, and was featured on the cover of the issue alongside fellow undocumented immigrants. He wrote a bestselling memoir, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen, produced and directed an autobiographical documentary called Documented, and co-produced the Tony Award-nominated play, What the Constitution Means to Me.

In honor of Pride Month, Vargas spoke to Mashable about the LGBTQ movement, his continued fight for the human rights of immigrants, and the importance of telling your story.

The interview below has been edited for length and clarity.

Mashable: Tell me a bit about Define American’s mission and the work you're doing to fight for the rights of immigrants.

Jose Antonio Vargas:As a 38-year-old gay man who came out of the closet when I was 18, I'm proud and grateful to live in a time when being homophobic is, for the most part, culturally unacceptable. If a celebrity or an elected official say something homophobic, they get called out. Shamed. Often there are consequences. I gotta give credit to organizations like GLAAD who have led the way in how LGBTQ people are portrayed in the media. But as an undocumented immigrant — what many people call 'illegal' — I am sad to report that being anti-immigrant in 2019 is not only largely culturally acceptable — it wins you the White House. How did that happen?

In my mind, if the fight for LGBTQ rights taught us anything, it's the reality that you cannot change the politics of an issue unless you change the culture in which that issue is discussed. Before same-sex marriage became the law of the land — before laws were passed, before policies shifted — the way we saw LGBTQ people had to change. We had to see LGBTQ people as people, not as issues and policy points. We had to see the motivation that drives the call for equality. Dignity. Love is love. Family. So, taking our cue from the LGBTQ movement, Define American is changing the culture in which we talk about immigration. We do that through storytelling: challenging how news organizations cover immigration; helping Hollywood (TV shows and movies) tell more accurate, humanizing stories of immigrants; organizing how young people (in college and high school campuses) tell the story of a changing America fueled by immigration.

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Mashable: I know that coming out as gay in high school and publicly revealing yourself as undocumented later on in your adult life were two very different experiences. Looking back, how would you reflect on each?

JAV:Language is really crucial here. From the outside looking in, someone could say that I’ve "come out" twice in my life: first as gay, then later as undocumented. But the reality is, I didn't come out — I'm only letting people in. Looking back, I think the goal for me is to centralize my identities and not surrender to what Toni Morrison calls "the master narrative."

Mashable: Could you speak a bit about the intersection of being gay and being an immigrant? Are there ways that the two identities have influenced one another in your life?

JAV: They are inextricable. It took me a very long time to wake up to that very fact. Even though I came out as gay at age 18, I was in the closet about being undocumented until I was 30. The closet is a depressing, dangerous, isolating place to be. Now that I’m "out" about both identities, I’m in the process of claiming myself fully.

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Mashable: It's no secret that Donald Trump and his administration haven’t always made members of the LGBTQ community, immigrants, or people of color feel safe or accepted here. What do you hope your personal story and the work you’re committed to reminds people who may feel unwelcome in America because of their identity?

JAV:It's imperative that we insist on the fact that the Trump era did not happen overnight. Together, Democrats and Republicans helped create the broken immigration system that we are tragically trapped in right now. It's tough for progressives to remember that President Obama deported a record number of immigrants. There was a time when Democrats did not have the moral courage to stand up for LGBTQ rights. Since arriving to this country in 1993, I’ve been trying to locate the moral compass that guides Republicans on both LGBTQ and immigration issues. I’m saying all of that to underscore the importance that our work at Define American transcend[s] political parties. Progress should not have a party.

My story is only one story. We need more stories to complicate our understanding of what it means to be marginalized, ostracized, and discriminated against by systems and institutions that were not created by us or for us.

Mashable: You're such a powerful storyteller, and continually share impactful narratives that resonate. What advice would you give to people who are struggling to share their own stories with the world?

JAV: I'm not as good as I need to be, so I'm constantly trying to challenge myself. I want to be good at what I do. The biggest advice I can offer is to make sure you are clear and honest with yourself about why you are sharing what you are sharing. What's the purpose beyond the self? How do you tell your story without erasing other stories? How do you claim yourself while knowing that your face, your voice and your story is not the only one that matters?

Mashable: This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Society has made significant progress towards inclusivity and equality over the past quarter century, but there's still so much to accomplish. What are some milestones you hope to see within the LGBTQ community over the course of the next few years?

JAV:I gotta answer your question by asking more questions. I'm sorry, journalism is in my DNA! Here are some: How will the LGBTQ community help in the fight against mass incarceration and mass detention of people of color, many of whom identify as LGBTQ? In what ways are the LGBTQ community addressing income inequality, which impacts all people? Stonewall began a movement for equality that was founded in rebellion. How will [the] LGBTQ community continue to fight unequal systems and structures? As with Stonewall, trans people, especially women of color, have continually led and risked themselves for all of us. How do we protect the marginalized among the marginalized? Whatever milestones we live through will depend on the answers to those questions. And there are many more!

I think of this question a lot: How is the LGBTQ community, especially the younger folks, honoring the sacrifices of our elders? 

When I was a reporter at the Washington Post, I made a conscious effort to profile historic LGBTQ figures. I profiled Franklin Kameny who famously protested in front of the White House, carrying signs that read: "First Class Citizenship for Homosexuals." What do we owe Frank? Bayard Rustin? Marsha P. Johnson? 

Jose Antonio Vargas holding sign in Iowa, 2011. Credit: Jose Antonio Vargas

Mashable: What plans do you have for the future as a journalist, activist, and filmmaker?

JAV:Because of my immigration status, because I don't have a valid green card or a U.S. passport, my life is physically limited. If I leave the U.S., which I have not done since arriving here as a 12-year-old in 1993, there's no guarantee I’d be allowed back. And I'm not ready to leave America. This is my home. That means I have yet to travel and see the world. So, I force myself to believe that my mind is free. My mind can and must go anywhere, borderless and limitless, not threatened by anyone or anything, not President Trump, not ICE, not immoral laws defined by power and not justice.

That free mind is all I need to continue my work, in all the ways (journalism, books, movies, TV, theatre) I want my work to exist.

Read more great Pride Month stories:

• This lawyer helped legalize same-sex marriage. Here's what she's working on now.

• Camps help ease anxiety for LGBTQ campers and for their parents back home

• Astrology tech can provide a safe space for the LGBTQ community, but there are limitations