It’s the Summer and lately, we’ve been feeling a little romantic. It has us thinking about the sweltering heat, moonlit nights and someone special to spend it with. All this romantic energy has made us kinda nostalgic about our own love lives and those moments that made them memorable. Whether our first kiss was fun and casual or with the loves of our lives, they’re a part of who we are now. To celebrate these smooches, we asked Latinas to tell us about their first kiss.
Here’s what they had to say about these monumental first.
The kiss that was packed with a lot of peer pressure.
“For my first kiss, I was about 8 years old lol. My older cousin made me kiss a little boy while visiting our abuelo in Mexico. The little boy lived next door to my abuelo.
I apparently wasn’t ready to have my first kiss because I was super shy and I didn’t have a crush on the boy, I just felt a little pressured because my cousin was like, “Kiss him, kiss him.” So me and the little boy kissed in front of my cousin and his brother.
It was a little peck, but at that age it felt like I did something horrible. I remember later seeing my parents and going up to them and telling them right away that I kissed a boy because I felt so guilty. They told me that I was too young to be doing that. I, of course, didn’t rat out my cousin for pressuring me into it, but blamed myself more.
Eight years old… yup that’s way too young. Funny first kiss though lol. Now everytime I go visit my abuelo in Mexico, I look at the front of the house where I kissed the little boy and just laugh. ” — Jenny, Los Angeles
“I had my first kiss when I was 16 and it honestly felt like it would never come. I had a flirtation with a boy in my Algebra class so — on a whim — I invited him to a game night sponsored by one of our school’s clubs.
During the evening, he and I decided to take a walk together. It was nice but he kept stopping and staring at me. I’d later find out he was working up the nerve to kiss me but at the time I was a wreck! We didn’t kiss that night but I invited him to my house the following day.
We were upstairs sitting side by side on the family room couch. It was so peaceful with just the two of us. Suddenly, my mom called us downstairs and totally ruined the mood! When we sat up, we turned to each other and both leaned in.
We kissed three times before nervously heading downstairs. I was totally in love! Seventeen years later, we’re married with three kids. I think my first kiss came exactly when it was meant to.” — Samantha, Houston
“I was 5 years old and he was my best friend. He was the son of my mom’s best friend, actually, and we were inseparable as little kids. One day, we were reading Sleeping Beauty and, in the end, they kiss and the princess wakes up. I don’t remember which one of us said it but we got the idea to try it. And we did!” — Irina
“My first kiss was actually with a girl. My best friend and I had grown up together since we were 7 years old.
Because both of our parents worked we spent a lot of time over at each others houses being ‘watched’ by our older siblings or baby sisters. Most of the time that including the older caretakers flipping on the TV and having us watch it while it watched us for them. So, many of our hours in the summer were spent watching tv shows and movies that were romantic in nature.
When we 13 years old we watched ‘Wild Things’ and realized that we could practice for our first kisses on each other. TBH it was a sweet, non-sexual exchange between friends. And we still are to this day.” —Ana, Brooklyn
“I had a crush on this boy for years in grade school who I had known since we were four. I was a very late bloomer when it came to sexual experiences because I grew up in a very sheltered household. So, by the time I was in college and 20 years old I was pretty convinced it would never happen to me.
Finally, I went out to a party with friends and saw my former crush from elementary school. We caught each other early on in the night and later in the evening after a few drinks saw each other again. While we were catching up outside of the party he kissed me.
It was such a relief at the time, but pretty heartbreaking later when I realized most people in college just go around kissing people for fun and it doesn’t mean anything! Haha!” — Gabby, Texas
“My first kiss was from an uncle who was a complete pervert. I don’t really like to talk about it and normally when people ask me this question I just say that it was from the second person who ever kissed me.” —Anonymous
“I think by the time I got around to getting my first kiss, so many of my friends had assured me that it was no big deal, and it would be nothing special. I think that that’s why when it finally came around it felt truly special and intimate.
At the time, I was in a church group during the summer when I was 15 and had liked a boy in my class called Mateo. He told my friends during a break that he wanted to kiss me one week and I had been so scared, even though I liked him, that I just avoided him. My heart would beat so fast every time we were around each other.
Finally after what felt like years but was probably just a couple of weeks I told him that I liked him and wanted to kiss him too. He kissed me outside under a tree. It was very sweet.” — Veronica, Chicago
Rep. Ilan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, is receiving criticism from both sides of the aisle after she tweeted that Latinos wouldn’t benefit from a merit-based immigration plan.
Many on the left are upset with her for seemingly have implied that the Latino community wouldn’t qualify based on merit. While many on the right are just hungry for more misinformation and drama surrounding the freshman Congresswoman.
In a now-deleted tweet, the Congresswoman was appearing to question the real reasoning behind a merit-based immigration policy.
Credit: @IlhanMN / Twitter
Often times, the Trump administration has used this coded term to refer to a system of stopping immigration from brown and black countries, or shithole countries as he once referred to many of them.
She clearly stated that immigration policies should be humane, legal, and fair. And welcome people of all sorts of backgrounds.
The Trump administration’s recently released immigration plan doubles down on a merit-based policy, one that research shows is inherently racist.
Credit: @IlhanMN / Twitter
Currently, only 12% of immigrants to the US qualify based on skills and very few Latinos are ever awarded visas of this type.
However, many on the left, including Latinos, are very upset with the Congresswoman’s choice of words.
Some on Twitter did come to the Congresswoman’s defense and noted that a merit-based system would likely work against Latinos. The problem is, she didn’t exactly get the wording right.
Credit: @IlhanMN / Twitter
With the rhetoric from the Trump administration, it’s safe to say this policy wouldn’t be applied equally.
But overwhelmingly, Latinos on Twitter were just sick and tired of being underestimated.
All too often, Latinos of all backgrounds are thought of as impoverished, undereducated, or underskilled immigrants. We are often described as migrant workers or refugees, all of us lumped into the same category.
Yes, there are communities in urgent need of relief from persecution in their home countries, including refugees. But it’s simply not true that they couldn’t qualify under a merit-based system.
Many immigrants from all over Latin America are doctors, engineers, lawyers, with so much to offer the US. This is the point that was lost on many across social media.
And, of course, Sen. Ted Cruz had to chime in and offer his two cents.
Though many were quick to point out that Cruz’s family emigrated to Canada before arriving in the US. And that he himself was born in Canada, making it a lot easier to gain legal status in the US.
All of this just shows how important it is to choose your words very carefully unless you want to invite a firestorm from both sides.
