Invisible Minorities: Sexuality, Masculinity, and the Education of Second-Generation Latino and Asian American Gay Men

• In Event: Shades of Brown Masculinity: Positioning and Complicating Latino Machismo to Inform Educational Policy

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to elucidate the impact of gay identity on the educational lives of gay children of immigrants. How does sexual identity shape the educational experiences of second-generation gay Latino and Asian American men? Within sociological and educational research on Latino and Asian American students, scholars often overlook the central role that sexual identity plays in how gay Latinos and Asians navigate their school lives. For example, previous studies on Latino educational experiences have paid much attention to challenges related to socioeconomic disadvantage, racial subordination, and neighborhood effects (Rios 2011; Telles and Ortiz 2008), while literature on Asian Americans has spent much efforts attempting to discredit the model minority myth (Chou and Feagin 2008; Ng et al. 2007). Within the sociology of immigration, the experiences of gay children of immigrants is almost entirely overlooked. For example, the primary frameworks on second-generation incorporation (Portes and Rumbaut 2001; Portes and Zhou 1993) do not account for the role of gender presentation and sexuality in how children of immigrants adapt to life in the United States.

Drawing on the theoretical traction gained from experiential knowledge of invisible minorities, a primary tenet of critical race theory, we centralize the narratives of gay Latino and Asian American men to provide an understanding of the heteronormative and hypermasculine ideologies that are embedded within schools. Empirically, we draw from more than 80 in-depth interviews with second-generation Latino and Asian American gay men from the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay Area.

Our findings reveal that masculinity plays a key role in gay Latinos’ and Asian Americans’ school experiences. Gay men, regardless of gender presentation, are invested in salvaging their masculinity in the context of their families and friends. Because their sense of masculinity is often questioned and threatened by parents and family due to their sexuality, many gay Latinos and Asians use school as an opportunity to reclaim a sense of manhood. Performing well in school provides them with a form of symbolic capital that compensates for the “points lost” due to being gay. In addition, academics provides immigrant parents a unique excuse to avoid being interrogated by other family and co-ethnic networks on why their child has yet to get married. Within the context of school, doing well in school was also a conscious strategy. Gay men were continually aware of the distinctive role of hypermasculinity in the different academic tracks. In remedial tracks, traditional forms of masculinity were more pervasive in everyday interactions. While still present in honors tracks, hypermasculinity also competed with academic performance as a mechanism of social relationships. Thus, gay Latinos and Asians could build friendships based on school, as opposed to the heteronormative rituals associated with hypermasculinity. Ultimately, however, education was not a viable strategy for gay men who were not able to evade bullying from classmates. The findings of this research have important theoretical and policy implications for researchers and practitioners hoping to be more inclusive of the concerns of LGBT students.

Authors

• Anthony C. Ocampo, Cal Poly Pomona

• Daniel Soodjinda, California State University - Stanislaus