Bex Carlos (She/Her) is a self-proclaimed Audio Witch, practicing bruja, co-creator of the Queers & Queens Tarot Card Deck, and host of Tu Tía Bruja. 

1. We love your Queers & Queens Tarot Card Deck! When and why was it created?

Thank you, so it is a funny story. My friend had just moved to Ireland for Art School. We were on Twitter, talking about future projects. I mentioned creating a tarot deck to commemorate 50 years since Stonewall. Thus the idea for The Queers & Queens Tarot Deck was formed. We did a lot of research to only add folx who brought positivity to the community and didn’t have a checkered past. However, that would have gotten really expensive due to copyrights, and our Devil card inspiration threatened to sue us. Instead we decided to incorporate current Queer folx. 78 beautiful Queer folx make up our deck. Alejandra Robles-Luna of Le Butcherettes makes a cameo too.

Sam of Ealain Studios Art created all the artwork, they are so talented. The cards are especially beautiful and unique, Sam has two conditions that impact how they see the world, the final product is beautiful. A true attribution that we all have differing gifts that allow us to create beauty. I helped promote the deck, and within 3 days of our Kickstarter we were at our goal, by the end of the month we doubled it. The amount of support has been amazing.

2. Tell us about your podcast and why it is so important for you to amplify the voices of your community.

I have been making huge efforts to decolonize. Brujeria is my way of reconnecting with my Ancestors. So for the last 5 years I have been looking for groups and people who align with who I am and what I stand for. However like 95% of the groups in the U.S. culturally appropriate, and minorities are normally talked over and told “magick is for everyone.” I also didn’t like the Spanish speaking groups, because there was a huge focus on Catholicism. I had horrible things said to me because I don’t believe in the religion of the colonizers. So after seeing all those places focus on whiteness and colonizer culture, I decided to create a podcast that focused on the perspective of Black/Brown/Queer Brujas & Witches.

Tu Tía Bruja has been well received. Every week I am blessed to have conversations with people living in their power and fully embracing who they are. It’s a series of conversations with black/brown/queer people at the intersections of being creative & innovative.

3. There are such incredible artists in the LGBTQ community that rarely get featured in media. Who are three leaders you admire and why?

Indya Moore is someone that I have been watching. They are very talented and constantly do work to help Black & Brown Trans Folx. They haven’t let the fame make them forget where they came from.

Ana de la Reguera is someone else that is doing cool things. Her show Ana spoke to me, I think many Mexican-American folx deal with Selena Complex, so adding in sexuality can be another layer of feeling like we aren’t enough of one or the other. Seeing people that look like me creating characters I relate to is so inspiring.

Although I have a complicated relationship with her, Frida Kahlo. She ripped out her heart and put it on canvas for us all to see. Although she lived in Mexico which is very Catholic and Conservative, she was out here doing whatever she wanted and hooking up with whoever she wanted. She didn’t let her environment mold her, and that sense of being yourself, no matter what, is what I am all about.

Follow Bex at @bexcasting.