Richard Blanco, Gay Latino, Named Inaugural Poet
The Presidential Inaugural Committee today announced Richard Blanco, a Latino gay man and immigrant as the Inaugural poet for the President's swearing-in on January 21. Blanco will be the youngest-ever inaugural poet, the first Latino, and the first LGBT person to read a poem at the inauguration, according to the Committee's announcement.
Blanco, who lives in Maine with his partner, told The New York Times he has long identified with numerous aspects of President Obama's journey to prominence.
"Since the beginning of the campaign, I totally related to his life story and the way he speaks of his family, and of course his multicultural background," Blanco, who was born to Cuban parents in Spain, then raised and educated in Miami, told The Times. "There has always been a spiritual connection in that sense. I feel in some ways that when I'm writing about my family, I'm writing about him."
http://www.advocate.com/politics/washington-dc/2013/01/09/richard-blanco-gay-latino-named-inaugural-poet
-----------------------
I'll be interested in seeing this poem.