Lavin Exclusive Speaker
Gabby Rivera is an outgoing, outspoken creator invested in fostering better dialogue, inspiring radical creativity, and improving our most vulnerable communities. The author of Juliet Takes a Breath, she’s also the writer of the Marvel series America—featuring the first queer, Latinx teen-girl superhero, ever. It’s catching headlines from The New York Times, Vogue, and beyond: and Marvel Studios and Disney+ just announced a new show based on the series.
Charismatic and charming, Gabby Rivera is dedicated to empowering people and improving our marginalized communities. She’s currently making major waves for her new Marvel series starring America Chavez: a queer, Latinx superhero who’s been written and designed, crucially, by a queer Latinx. And while the series is “definitely going to tackle America’s ancestry and ethnicity,” Rivera tells The Washington Post, it’s also a comic book with wide appeal: committed to snappy one-liners, blowing stuff up, and beating up the bad guys, naturally. Rivera’s newest project is b.b. free, an original story following the coming-of-age adventure of b.b., in a post-apocalyptic world not quite like anything you’ve seen before. Set to be released by BOOM! Studios, Rivera calls b.b. free “a bouncy love letter to queer kids everywhere, especially the chubby Puerto Rican ones.”
Rivera is also the author of Juliet Takes a Breath, a YA novel listed by Mic as one of the 25 essential books to read for women’s history month. It’s a critically acclaimed coming-of-age story starring a queer puertorriqueña who leaves her native Bronx behind to intern with one of her literary heroes: the feminist author Harlow Brisbane. “I strongly encourage you to read Juliet Takes a Breath,” writes Roxane Gay. “It’s quite dazzling, funny as hell, poignant, all the things.” Witty, authentic, and humming with the full complexities of modern life and radical politics, it was called the “dopest LGBTQA YA book ever” by Latina magazine—was re-published in September 2019. Her upcoming podcast, Gabby Rivera’s Joy Revolution—set for Spring 2020—will feature interviews with revolutionary QTPOC humans and allies, where they share how they find, maintain, and nurture their joy in this chaotic world.
As an activist, Rivera also gives back. She’s the Youth Programs Manager at GLSEN (pronounced “glisten”): a leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe, affirming schools for LGBTQ students; working towards fewer incidents of bullying and harassment, and more students treated with respect. She’s also worked with Autostraddle.com for over five years as the QTPOC Speakeasy editor and A-Camp staff. A film and multi-media teaching artist, she’s worked with social justice organizations like DreamYard Project, Inc. She’s appeared as a featured panelist and counselor at the annual Autostraddle Queer Women’s Conference, and has presented at the Allied Media and Digital Media and Learning Conferences.