Mário de Andrade spent his life resisting the demand to become one thing. Poet, novelist, musician, folklorist, photographer, and architect of Brazilian modernism, he made contradiction part of his form.

In 1928, responding to rumors about his “so-called homosexuality,” Mário wrote: “I don’t deny it.” Years later, he created a word for himself and described in himself a kind of “pan-sensuality,” while private writings and correspondence left evidence pointing in more than one direction. This episode follows those fragments alongside Macunaíma, his complicated modernist masterpiece, and the archive he sealed for fifty years.

Binary Bashers: Latinidad asks what happens when a life, and its archive, refuses to resolve itself for us.

Also, Embracing All of Me, the podcast and producer of Binary Bashers has been nominated for a Signal Award. The episode A Black Bisexual Blueprint for Belonging & Survival with Zoomy Taylor & Chizu is a finalist in the Activism, Public Service, and Social Impact category. Would you mind taking 3 seconds to support us with a vote?

How to Vote for the Signal Awards

1. Go to the Signal Awards voting website

2. Create an account or sign in

3. Select Individual Episode

4. Go to Activism, Public Service, & Social Impact

5. Find “Beyond Binaries: A Black Bisexual Blueprint for Belonging & Survival” from Embracing All of Me

6. Tap Vote

If you notice any factual errors in this episode, please contact us at ⁠stories@embracingallofme.org⁠. We are committed to accuracy and respect of the figures legacy and family and will issue corrections as needed. Binary Bashers is produced by Embracing All of Me, a storytelling and advocacy platform for the multi, the complex, and the in-between, uplifting bi+, queer, and BIPOC voices. For more, visit embracingallofme.org.