queer studies

Gay Latino Studies: A Critical Reader Book Cover

Gay Latino Studies: A Critical Reader

"The authors of the essays in this unique collection explore the lives and cultural contributions of gay Latino men in the United States, while also analyzing the political and theoretical stakes of gay Latino studies. In new essays and influential previously published pieces, Latino scholars based in American studies, ethnic studies, history, performance studies, and sociology consider gay Latino scholarly and cultural work in relation to mainstream gay, lesbian, and queer academic discourses and the broader field of Chicano and Latino studies."
Author
Michael Hames-García  and Ernesto Javier Martínez
Publication
2011
On Making Sense: Queer Race Narratives of Intelligibility Book Cover

On Making Sense: Queer Race Narratives of Intelligibility

“This book juxtaposes texts produced by black, Latino, and Asian queer writers and artists to understand how knowledge is acquired and produced in contexts of racial and gender oppression. In their efforts to “make sense,” these writers and artists argue against merely being accepted by society on society's terms, but articulate a desire to confront epistemic injustice—an injustice that affects people in their capacity as knowers and as community members worthy of being known.”
Author
Ernesto Javier Martinez
Publication
2012
When We Love Someone We Sing to Them Book Cover

Cuando Amamos Cantamos; When We Love Someone We Sing to Them

"This children’s book tells the story of a Mexican-American boy who learns from his parents about serenatas and why demonstrating romantic affection proudly, publicly, and through song is such a treasured Mexican tradition. One day, the boy asks his parents if there is a song for a boy who loves a boy. The parents, surprised by the question and unsure of how to answer, must decide how to honor their son and how to reimagine a beloved tradition."
Author
Ernesto Martínez
Publication
2018
La Serenata Cover

La Serenata

This project was funded in part by a CSWS grant.
"A Mexican-American boy learns from his parents about  serenatas, and why demonstrating romantic affection proudly, publicly, and through song is such a treasured Mexican tradition. One day, the boy asks his parents if there is a song for a boy who loves a boy. The parents, surprised by the question and unsure of how to answer, must decide how to honor their son and how to reimagine a beloved tradition."
Author
Ernesto Javier Martínez
Publication
2019
"Queer Freedom : Black Sovereignty" Book Cover

Queer Freedom : Black Sovereignty

"Theoretically wide-ranging and deeply personal and poetic, Queer Freedom : Black Sovereignty is based on more than three years of fieldwork in the Dominican Republic. Ana-Maurine Lara draws on her engagement in traditional ceremonies, observations of national Catholic celebrations, and interviews with activists from peasant, feminist, and LGBT communities to reframe contemporary conversations about queerness and blackness. The result is a rich ethnography of the ways criollo spiritual practices challenge gender and racial binaries and manifest what Lara characterizes as a shared desire for decolonization."
Author
Ana-Maurine Lara
Publication
2020
Streetwalking: LGBTQ Lives and Protest in the Dominican Republic Book Cover

Streetwalking: LGBTQ Lives and Protest in the Dominican Republic

"This book is an exploration of the ways that lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer persons exercise power in a Catholic Hispanic heteropatriarchal nation-state, namely the Dominican Republic. Lara presents the specific strategies employed by LGBTQ community leaders in the Dominican Republic in their struggle for subjectivity, recognition, and rights. Drawing on ethnographic encounters, film and video, and interviews, LGBTQ community leaders teach readers about streetwalking, confrontación, flipping the script, cuentos, and the use of strategic universalisms in the exercise of power and agency."
Author
Ana-Maurine Lara
Publication
2020