Estupenda Márquez, the art of viralizing queer news and LGBT+ issues
Content creator and educator Estupenda Márquez explains how she approaches her activity on social media focused on the dissemination of LGBT themes.
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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina. Estupenda Márquez is a content creator who studied tourism, fashion design, and advertising, and holds a master's degree in digital marketing. She is Spanish, but her heart is more rainbow-colored than Argentinian. She is proudly queer and lesbian, an LGBTQ+ activist, and a critical communicator . Her name, her way of speaking—which alternates between winks and gestures to weave different layers of information into a single sentence—all this whirlwind elegantly and responsibly delivers audiovisual material that connects with the less mainstream aspects of LGBTQ+ history.
Like a sitcom, her videos and reels showcase the affections and loves of her life. She shares this journey where she teaches, but also learns. “There’s a lot of work behind each video, and I feel like all the research I do to make them changes me a little. I learn a ton doing this, and I feel like I’m a very different person than when I started. If I weren’t doing this work, I’d probably still be researching it on my own,” she told Presentes .
How to tell the story
A major character in her creations isn't a person or an identity, but a city: Torremolinos. There we see Estupenda strolling through Pride, asking people how much they know about LGBT+ issues and role models. Or on any other day, visiting friends. But one of the videos that started it all was the one in which she explains why this city is the cradle of LGBT+ activism in Spain.
Her content is like a prism that, when pierced by a beam of light, reveals as many colors as there are points of reference. From one of Estupenda's reels, you can discover how the LGBT+ community resisted during the dictatorship, learn what happened in Torremolinos, and even who the "faggot chapel" were. She is a fundamental figure in these gray times, and in these realities that need the color of revolution.
@estupendamarquez With all the hate I've received for yesterday's video, I got creative and transformed it into a new section I've called "Queer Historical Characters" ✨ ✊🏽 #sorjuanainesdelacruz #lgbtespaña #lgbtespañol #lgtbespaña🌈 #lgbthistory #queerhistoricalcharacters #lgbtq🌈 #feminism #feminismmexico #lgbtmexico #lesbianstiktok #lesbiansmexico ♬ original sound – Estupenda Márquez
“To understand everything, you always have to look back and understand where we come from, why things are happening now, and where they originate,” he explains. Especially now, when everything is so polarized. “When I talk to someone who has a political ideology contrary to mine, or with whom I have our differences, I feel that when you try to explain something to them, the foundation lies in history.”
Curiosity and a desire to study filled her with tools that she deployed in various jobs, but there came a time when she wondered why not apply it to her best brand: herself.
Investigate, make it go viral
One of the events that sparked this initiative was a situation his wife experienced. She is a teacher in Spanish schools, and as part of a curriculum that includes activities for events such as the week against LGBTphobia, she suggested bringing in a drag queen to tell stories. This action takes place within the framework of an established curriculum and in collaboration with organizations like Apoyo Positivo , which have been doing this for some time.
The scandal erupted with mothers and fathers threatening to report her and the school, demanding inspections, wanting to call the most sensationalist television news outlets, sending countless emails to the school administration, and even creating Facebook groups to denounce the situation. On the day of the drag storytelling event, Estupenda recorded her first video and knew that this was where she wanted to put all her expertise and energy, “to do something that resonates with me, something that truly fulfills me.”
Does a bar ban gay people? Estupenda is there investigating and giving us all the context. Great queer figures in history? She reviews who they are and introduces us to new biographies. Is there an LGBT+ event? Not only does she not miss it, but she takes us on a trip in the passenger seat with all the luxuries.
In times when social media bombards us with life coaches who force you to be happy, book and film lists create hierarchies and competitions based on a capitalist, marketing-driven approach, and people showcase their brilliance while never revealing their flaws, Estupenda's content offers a diverse and loving perspective. Because "queer" isn't just about rejecting heteronormativity, but also about building bridges to create more and better connections. Queer is about loving in defiance of all rules, whether it's a book or a four-legged family member—some call a "fur baby," and here we call him "The Sparkle in the Eyes," a name that winks at and references Camila Sosa Villada's , "Las Malas
Between Argentina and Spain
With a character that seems created by Hannah Barbera, a touch of Buster Keaton, and a necessary excess of rainbows and folklore, Estupenda becomes that friend you love to listen to and watch, and one day you realize that maybe you never met in person, but you are already part of a digital family that shares the love for freedom, the embrace of the soul, and the fight for rights, especially our legitimate right to live a life with pride and tenderness.
And why is she so Argentinian? Her language is a rollercoaster of stories and references, and her body language and gestures perfectly capture the tone of every turn in the conversation. Chatting with her is like seeing unedited reels. In 2011, through an agreement with a Spanish university, she ended up studying at the University of Salvador (USAL). “The first day I arrived and ended up next to a crucifix, welcome!” But the experience improved, and she still has friends and a great memory from there.
She fell so in love with this land that she ended up living here for about two years, creating such a beautiful bond that whenever she can, she comes not just to visit, but to be part of a culture she's already a part of. She even has her own mate thermos covered in trans-feminist stickers and featuring a little gaucho! The real passport.
During her 2024 visit, she resumed her 'QueerMas' project, a December countdown to Christmas Day, sharing something new each year. "The content I had done before was about historical topics or more general news stories; this time it was a bit about my life," she explains, and those days in Argentina were filled with her local loves and continuing to share facts, places, and activism from this side of the Atlantic.
Wonderful in Brandon, wonderful in Mocha Celis, wonderful in the Trans Memory Archive, wonderful lends us her gaze to rediscover so many familiar spaces that now continue traveling the world and bringing us closer together. Here it doesn't matter if you believe in Christmas or not, there are no families that expel anyone, again she twists traditions without imposing anything, just opening the door to go and play in a bigger way, or a smaller way, or sideways, however it may be, what she does is open it so that all of us can enter.
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