Acknowledgments  ix

Introduction  1

1. Tacit Subjects  17

Part I. Leaving Living in the Mental Island  39

2. Moving Portraits  41

3. Desencontrando la dominicanidad in New York City  67

Part II. Body Languages  107

4. Eso se nota: Scenes from Queer Childhoods  111

5. Code Swishing  139

Part III. Colonial Zones  173

6. Virando la dominicanidad  177

7. To Be Someone, To Be Somewhere: Erotic Returns and U.S.-Caribbean Circuits of Desire  205

Epilogue  239

Notes  241

Bibliography  287

Index  303

“The book is an excellent tool, both methodologically and theoretically,
for academics and students seeking to gain understanding of the complex
social relations navigated by immigrant men who have sex with men. It is
particularly well suited for graduate level seminars in the social sciences
interested in the complexity of sexuality, race and the nation.”
—Matthew Thomann, Journal of Homosexuality

“The book is an academic text, so it’s not for everyone, but the larger understanding embedded in its content is universal. Not only is there the history that seems to be looming over everything, what is particularly striking is the struggle for self-respect and dignity in what is too often a brutal world. These men yearn for the love and respect of their families and from their partners and acceptance from society. It isn’t too much to ask, but in the world they inhabit it too often seems to be asking for everything.”—Aaron Leonard, History News Network

“There is much packed into this worthwhile book. Its achievements are many, among them the rare capacity of a scholarly book to intertwine complex theorization with the kind of vibrant ethnographic storytelling that this text captures. . . . [R]eaders across the social sciences and humanities, will find this an intriguing, elucidatory and captivating read. It is an important contribution to the multiple, intersecting fields of anthropology, gender studies, masculinity studies, queer studies, Latin American and Caribbean studies and sociology, among others.”—Diana J. Fox, A Contracorriente

“Carlos Ulises Decena’s first book, Tacit Subjects, is a most welcome addition to the nascent field of queer Latina/o studies. . . . Tacit Subjects offers more than just a rich analysis. It is also a pleasure to read.”—Julio Capó, Jr., CLGBTH Newsletter

“[T]his book provides a compelling look at the lives of samesex loving Dominican immigrant men. It is a powerful piece of work, which will be of
great interest to those in the fields of anthropology, cultural studies, sexuality/queer studies, globalisation and public health.”
—Ian W. Holloway, Culture, Health, and Sexuality

“This is an absorbing and challenging examination of homoracial transnational erotics. It is a very careful and layered autoethnography cum-
participant observation and life history interview study of 25 Dominican immigrant men in New York City.... As such, this volume presents a nuanced
disarticulation of dominicanidad (Dominican identity) with telling comments as to the nature of transnational desires and relations, and pointed conclusions as to the complex construction and performance of identity in
general.... This book not only adds a tacit and homosexual dimension to migrant studies, but it is also an invaluable corrective to the often static portrayal of migrant identity.”—Jonathan Skinner, Social Anthropology

“Overall, Tacit Subjects develops new theoretical terrains in sexuality, masculinity, and migration studies through its deep and personal engagement with the complex lives of a group of Dominican immigrant men living in New York City. It will therefore appeal to scholars across a range of disciplines, and I for one will be using it in my gender and sexuality courses as part of a sophisticated suite of texts exploring the movement, organization, and transformation of sexual desires and identities within and across Dominican borders.” —David A. B. Murray, GLQ

“Decena unpacks the meanings behind the boundaries and links created by those in his study, focusing on their perceptions of other Dominicans in relation to their own positions as marginal, working-class, immigrant people
attempting to advance based on a social status hierarchy in a host country. Tacit Subjects is clearly a must read for any scholar interested in race, class, sexualities and migration.”—Katie L. Acosta, Contemporary Sociology

“Tacit Subjects appears at a time when there is no shortage of theoretical debates and a spate of fascinating descriptive books of ethnic minority gay and lesbian lives and experiences. What marks it out, and will give it a place on many a reading list, is that it is informed throughout by theoretical considerations and yet does not shrink from a substantive analysis of a framework which examines the sexual expression and the formation of a sexual identity for gay Dominican immigrant men within the specificity of their cultural norms and values.”—Constantinos N. Phellas, Ethnic and Racial Studies

“This well-crafted book uses the experiences of gay and bisexual Dominican men living in New York as a particularly productive vantage point for reflecting on some of the big themes in transnationalism: migration, culture shock and self-transformation, performing gender, and sex and inequality. . . . Overall this is a book that has much to contribute to the research literature on sexuality, gender, migration, and Latin American studies.”—Barry D. Adam, Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies

“The book is an excellent tool, both methodologically and theoretically,
for academics and students seeking to gain understanding of the complex
social relations navigated by immigrant men who have sex with men. It is
particularly well suited for graduate level seminars in the social sciences
interested in the complexity of sexuality, race and the nation.”
—Matthew Thomann, Journal of Homosexuality

“The book is an academic text, so it’s not for everyone, but the larger understanding embedded in its content is universal. Not only is there the history that seems to be looming over everything, what is particularly striking is the struggle for self-respect and dignity in what is too often a brutal world. These men yearn for the love and respect of their families and from their partners and acceptance from society. It isn’t too much to ask, but in the world they inhabit it too often seems to be asking for everything.”—Aaron Leonard, History News Network

“There is much packed into this worthwhile book. Its achievements are many, among them the rare capacity of a scholarly book to intertwine complex theorization with the kind of vibrant ethnographic storytelling that this text captures. . . . [R]eaders across the social sciences and humanities, will find this an intriguing, elucidatory and captivating read. It is an important contribution to the multiple, intersecting fields of anthropology, gender studies, masculinity studies, queer studies, Latin American and Caribbean studies and sociology, among others.”—Diana J. Fox, A Contracorriente

“Carlos Ulises Decena’s first book, Tacit Subjects, is a most welcome addition to the nascent field of queer Latina/o studies. . . . Tacit Subjects offers more than just a rich analysis. It is also a pleasure to read.”—Julio Capó, Jr., CLGBTH Newsletter

“[T]his book provides a compelling look at the lives of samesex loving Dominican immigrant men. It is a powerful piece of work, which will be of
great interest to those in the fields of anthropology, cultural studies, sexuality/queer studies, globalisation and public health.”
—Ian W. Holloway, Culture, Health, and Sexuality

“This is an absorbing and challenging examination of homoracial transnational erotics. It is a very careful and layered autoethnography cum-
participant observation and life history interview study of 25 Dominican immigrant men in New York City.... As such, this volume presents a nuanced
disarticulation of dominicanidad (Dominican identity) with telling comments as to the nature of transnational desires and relations, and pointed conclusions as to the complex construction and performance of identity in
general.... This book not only adds a tacit and homosexual dimension to migrant studies, but it is also an invaluable corrective to the often static portrayal of migrant identity.”—Jonathan Skinner, Social Anthropology

“Overall, Tacit Subjects develops new theoretical terrains in sexuality, masculinity, and migration studies through its deep and personal engagement with the complex lives of a group of Dominican immigrant men living in New York City. It will therefore appeal to scholars across a range of disciplines, and I for one will be using it in my gender and sexuality courses as part of a sophisticated suite of texts exploring the movement, organization, and transformation of sexual desires and identities within and across Dominican borders.” —David A. B. Murray, GLQ

“Decena unpacks the meanings behind the boundaries and links created by those in his study, focusing on their perceptions of other Dominicans in relation to their own positions as marginal, working-class, immigrant people
attempting to advance based on a social status hierarchy in a host country. Tacit Subjects is clearly a must read for any scholar interested in race, class, sexualities and migration.”—Katie L. Acosta, Contemporary Sociology

“Tacit Subjects appears at a time when there is no shortage of theoretical debates and a spate of fascinating descriptive books of ethnic minority gay and lesbian lives and experiences. What marks it out, and will give it a place on many a reading list, is that it is informed throughout by theoretical considerations and yet does not shrink from a substantive analysis of a framework which examines the sexual expression and the formation of a sexual identity for gay Dominican immigrant men within the specificity of their cultural norms and values.”—Constantinos N. Phellas, Ethnic and Racial Studies

“This well-crafted book uses the experiences of gay and bisexual Dominican men living in New York as a particularly productive vantage point for reflecting on some of the big themes in transnationalism: migration, culture shock and self-transformation, performing gender, and sex and inequality. . . . Overall this is a book that has much to contribute to the research literature on sexuality, gender, migration, and Latin American studies.”—Barry D. Adam, Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies

“Without a doubt, Tacit Subjects is the most intelligent and coherent book on Latino homosexuality (and homosociality) that I have read in a very long time. It is a corrective to many readings of the Latina/o dynamic around disclosure, as well as the imperative of revelation that seems to mark most of the work in Anglo-American LGBTQ studies. It is a trenchant and powerful call for us to listen carefully to what others say and understand how their wisdom can teach us to abandon our preconceived notions of normativity.”—José Quiroga, author of Tropics of Desire: Interventions from Queer Latino America

“Tacit Subjects is a joy to read, an important piece of ethnographic scholarship, and a crucial node for a more enlightened and progressive understanding of queer lives lived on the edges of nations, histories, and cultures. Carlos Ulises Decena meticulously engages with, departs from, energizes, and reframes recent LBGTQ scholarship. He exhorts us to consider alternative modes of queer habitations ensconced in histories of racialized migration, colonial occupations, poverty, dictatorship, and humdrum existence in late-capitalist America.” —Martin Manalansan IV, author of Global Divas: Filipino Gay Men in the Diaspora

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