Interrogating Mexican Masculinituies and the Creation of Spaces for the Queer Mexican Diaspora in Houston

• In Event: Masculinidades Queer, Migración y Sexualidad

Abstract

The creation of social spaces has been an important practice amongst groups to develop a sense of community and identity. The Mexican Diaspora in the United States is not the exception. In this presentation I argue that for a group of gay Mexican migrants in Houston, the creation of Mexican/Hispanic queer spaces has aided them to develop an imaginary community in which they perform their gender and sexuality, as well as their national identity. In these spaces they can freely perform their queerness and their Mexicanidad (Mexicaness) at the same time. The focus of my presentation is based on my ethnographic work with Mexican gay migrants in Houston who attend regularly a G:LBT Club in Houston, Club Inergy. I study the way in which Mexican and U.S. conceptions of gender and sexuality have influenced the group I study creating a hybrid discourse of homosexuality that fused hegemonic and subaltern forces.

Author

• Jose Guillermo De Los Reyes, University of Houston