The Post-Migration Sexual Citizenship of Latino Gay Men in Canada

• In Event: 293 - Regular Session. Perspectives on Citizenship

Abstract

The Cuéntame! Study interviewed 25 Spanish-speaking gay and bisexualmen in Toronto. Their migration experiences are traversed by economic rationales, security concerns, and the embodied experiences of race, gender, culture, and sexuality. Most express narratives of empowered opportunity in distancing themselves from restrictive sexual regimes of their place of origin, but at the same time, many migrants trade a new sense of social acceptance as gay for marginalized statuses defined by diminished social and economic capital. The social participatory rights of citizenship are particularly affected bysexuality and social class. The need and desire to establish social and sexual connections in a new environment often characterized by economic vulnerability shape experiences of social capital and citizenship rights.

Authors

• Barry D. Adam, University of Windsor

• J. Cristian Rangel, University of Toronto