Abstract
This article describes patterns of interpretation and practice of same-sex desires pre- and post-migration among self-identified gay and bisexual Mexican immigrant men to the USA. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 80 such men, we argue that, contrary to stereotypes, their pre-migration interpretations and practices are considerably diverse and not solely informed by highly gendered understandings and styles of sexual interaction between men. After migration, some shift their interpretations and practices considerably, while others retain those that informed their sexualities pre-migration, either adapting them to their new sexual contexts or resisting any changes. These findings, which reveal the complexity and diversity of sexual interpretations among immigrant gay and bisexual men, pose a challenge to proposed systems of classifying same-sex desires as well as to conventional understandings of the impact of international migration on gay sexuality.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 919-938 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Sexualities |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 8 2014 |
Funding
This work was supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), award number R01HD042919. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of NICHD or the National Institutes of Health.
Keywords
- Gay diversity
- Mexican gay men
- immigration
- sexual change
- sexual context
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Gender Studies
- Anthropology
