Duke University Press - Gay Latino Studies

Subjects
Chicanx and Latinx Studies, Cultural Studies, Gender and Sexuality > LGBTQ Studies

The authors of the essays in this unique collection explore the lives and cultural contributions of gay Latino men in the United States, while also analyzing the political and theoretical stakes of gay Latino studies. In new essays and influential previously published pieces, Latino scholars based in American studies, ethnic studies, history, performance studies, and sociology consider gay Latino scholarly and cultural work in relation to mainstream gay, lesbian, and queer academic discourses and the broader field of Chicano and Latino studies. They also critique cultural explanations of gay Latino sexual identity and behavior, examine artistic representations of queer Latinidad, and celebrate the place of dance in gay Latino culture. Designed to stimulate dialogue, the collection pairs each essay with a critical response by a prominent Latino/a or Chicana/o scholar. Terms such as gay, identity, queer, and visibility are contested throughout the volume; the significance of these debates is often brought to the fore in the commentaries. The essays in Gay Latino Studies complement and overlap with the groundbreaking work of lesbians of color and critical race theorists, as well as queer theorists and gay and lesbian studies scholars. Taken together, they offer much-needed insight into the lives and perspectives of gay, bisexual, and queer Latinos, and they renew attention to the politics of identity and coalition.

Contributors. Tomás Almaguer, Luz Calvo, Lionel Cantú,, Daniel Contreras, Catriona Rueda Esquibel, Ramón García, Ramón A. Gutiérrez, Michael Hames-García, Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, María Lugones, Ernesto J. Martínez, Paula M. L. Moya, José Esteban Muñoz, Frances Negrón-Muntaner, Ricardo L. Ortiz, Daniel Enrique Pérez, Ramón H. Rivera-Servera, Richard T. Rodríguez, David Román, Horacio N. Roque Ramírez, Antonio Viego

“Gay Latino Studies: A Critical Reader is a collection of essays that's a literate chinga tu madre to the heteronormativity that's still endemic in Mexican (and Latino) society. Remember, gentle raza readers: We can't be homophobes and whine about Mexi discrimination in the same breath. Help eradicate H8 by buying this libro.” — Gustavo Arellano, "Ask a Mexican" column

“Gay Latino Studies is an important reader that will be useful to students and scholars in a range of disciplines, including American, Chicano, Latino, and ethnic studies; queer, feminist, and gender studies; and performance studies, English, and sociology. . . . Gay Latino Studies: A Critical Reader will be a valuable reference work for any university or personal library, for readers familiar with the themes and debates in gay Latino and Chicano studies, and for readers who are just entering these vital conversations.” — Marci L. Carrasquillo, MELUS

“I breathe a sigh of relief with the publication of Gay Latino Studies: A Critical Reader. Even before it existed, it was missing. . . . The chapters are speaking to each other, having conversations. This format invites readers to listen and chime in. . . . And that’s what’s so cool about Gay Latino Studies for me. It feels familiar, like I know these brothers, and I do. Like I’m in those pages here and there, and I am.” — Tatiana de la Tierra, La Bloga

"Gay Latino Studies is a provocative volume. It stimulates readers to take a critical look at the debates and studies surrounding sexuality. The introduction ("Remembering Gay Latino Studies") as well as the following ten articles included in the book--with their respective commentary--allow us to find at least two major lane markers in the shifting sands of the areas of sexuality, race and gender studies. On the one had they challenge us to recognize the unfinished character of our analytical tools and methodology as well as the complexities of research and of the social and political actors that give new meaning to academic endeavors. They invite us as well to reflect upon the context of academic production. How is it produced? What is produced? From where does it speak? Who is speaking?" (Translated from the Spanish) — Sofía Arguello Pazmiño, Sexualidad, Salud y Sociedad

"I’ve been waiting for a book like this – as personal and intellectually stimulating as this one – for over a decade. A book that uses, and yet does not take for granted, the very categories that inspire its existence. This inspiring compilation of chapters (some of which have been published in the previous decade) followed by recent critiques effectively offers a critical studies reader that moves between the categories, gay and queer, in complex ways. This, for some of us, is inevitably our bible." — Salvador Vidal-Ortiz, Latino Studies

“Gay Latino Studies is a startlingly original collection of essays on the culture and social worlds of gay Latinos. Using a wonderful format that pairs essays with response pieces, the book as a whole reads like a sparkling conversation full of wit, insight, cultural relevance, and political critique. Covering topics from gay shame and shamelessness, to dance and sexual identity, to the impact of HIV on gay Latino communities, Gay Latino Studies will quickly find its way onto bookshelves and into classrooms around the world.” — Judith Halberstam, author of Female Masculinity

“This collection will be an indispensable reference for any scholar working in queer or Latina/o studies. With its broad disciplinary and theoretical scope, it effectively establishes the field of gay Latino studies. It will shape the questions posed in this realm of study for some time to come.” — Ramón Saldívar, author of The Borderlands of Culture: Américo Paredes and the Transnational Imaginary