Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper is a critical theoretical of the gendered, heteronormative construction of ethnicity – Latinidad- by the Latina/o community in the United States and the consequent exclusion of queer Latinos from Latinidad. Queer Latina/os experience a triple jeopardous existence being race-ethnic and sexual minorities within the context of American society, the American (predominantly white) gay culture and the Latina/o community. However, the reification of patriarchal ideologies that privilege men in Latinidad and its embrace by both heterosexual and queer Latinos, positions queer Latinas in a particularly marginalized and excluded location as they are perceived as challenging heteronormative norms, thereby betraying their ethnicity. Queer Latinos and Latinas in particular are however challenging their marginalized positions within their ethnic community by becoming visible and developing a voice through the organizations that they are spearheading, the scholarship that they are creating and by talking about their lives. In so doing, they challenging constructed Latinidad and re-appropriating it to create spaces for their lives and realities as “legitimate” rather than “sell-out” Latina/os.