Pride is back and rearing its colorful head all through the month of June. With summer just kicking off and spirits soaring high, we can’t help but be reminded that it’s not only a time to celebrate, but also a time for reflection on the battles waged for dignity and equality.

We have seen great victories in the last year, starting with the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision to legalize same sex marriage nationwide. The end of 2015 also saw the Pentagon announce they’d allow transgender personnel to serve openly in the U.S. military. Chile legalized civil unions, Argentina repealed the ban on gay and bisexual blood donors, and Colombia ruled in favor of full adoption rights for same sex couples, later passing same sex marriage in early 2016. With President Enrique Peña Nieto’s proposal to pass marriage equality in all of Mexico, and New York City now recognizing and protecting 31 gender identities, it seems the future is brighter than ever.

However, where walls are torn down, new ones are built. The backlash to the marriage ruling found its voice in Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk whose refusal to award marriage licenses to same sex couples landed her in jail, sparking heated debate. Conservatives have rallied nationwide, drafting thinly veiled discrimination laws that have either passed or are currently up for debate in as many as 15 state legislatures. Religious freedom bills passed in Indiana and Mississippi allow open refusal to employment, service, and housing against LGBTQ individuals, and North Carolina kicked off a series of bathroom bills that prohibit and punish transgender folks using restrooms not corresponding to the gender they were assigned at birth. And that’s just the domestic crisis, without delving to deeply into the 77 countries that still find sexual diversity punishable by law, as well as the epidemic of violence against trans communities – especially against trans women of color.

These hurdles are bitter reminders of why we as a community fight and celebrate our history. Forty-seven years after the Stonewall Riots kicked off the modern LGBTQ movement, we’re still fighting. Thirty-three years since homosexuality was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and 26 years since the Center For Disease Control first diagnosed AIDS, we are still fighting. With marriage equality just one year old and gender dysphoria still considered a mental disorder, there is still much fighting to be done.

The list of queer artists we’ve curated for you this year is comprised of musicians working to bring visibility and humanity to the art they’re creating within their communities. Where we could write about icons like Juan Gabriel and Chavela Vargas, or current standard bearers like Ricky Martin, Javiera Mena, and Rita Indiana, we’ve decided instead to feature artists that may not yet have your attention, but deserve every bit of it. These artists are making music on their own terms and carving out audiences for themselves. In the spirit of justice, here are 12 queer Latinx artists making music you need to hear.