Colonial scripts and fragile queer masculinities: Brazilian gay men navigating effeminacy stigma in Canada

Despite the growth in Queer diaspora research over the last 30 years, several gaps and tensions persist in the literature. This article outlines the current state of the literature and suggests future research agendas for addressing theoretical, empirical, and methodological gaps in order to sustain the field’s continued development. It draws upon the author’s empirical research on Queer Ukrainian diasporas to further highlight these gaps and justify research needs. Starting with theoretical tensions, these mostly concern difficulties navigating various understandings and applications of the term ‘Queer diaspora’. This is best represented by two main, yet opposing, conceptualisations of Queer diaspora referred to as ‘ diasporisation of Queer’ and ‘ Queering the diaspora’. This article discusses their current limitations and suggests how empirical research can further develop these theoretical frameworks. Empirical challenges primarily involve population gaps resulting from the tendency of Queer diaspora research to explore migrants from certain sending and receiving countries. Other empirical gaps concern improving our understanding of the relationships between Queer diasporas and factors including time, language, and digital spaces. Finally, through a discussion around methodology, this article joins the calls for greater adoption of intersectional approaches which also offer an opportunity to reflect on research ethics.

This article focuses on how 60 queer men perceived emasculation in relation to their experiences of sexual assault, drawing particular attention to racial and ethnic differences. While previous scholarship has focused primarily on gender, the author of this article uses an intersectional approach to explore queer men’s narratives. Results demonstrate that queer men of color with intra-racial experiences of assault typically denied feelings of emasculation, emphasizing instead other emotions that were intimately related to challenges they faced due to their social position. Most White participants with intra-racial experiences felt emasculated after the assault. Racial and ethnic differences appeared even more pronounced with interracial forms of violence, as Black queer men drew attention to racialized concerns, such as fear over being perceived as a “troublemaker” for reporting a White assailant, while White and Latino participants described feeling emasculated, in large part due to masculinizing stereotypes of Black men. The implications of this research suggest that emasculation is a racialized, as well as a gendered, process for queer men – one that does not arise automatically from simply being a man who has been sexually violated but one that springs disproportionately from whiteness and that generally involves particular racialized gender dynamics.

Homonegativity is associated with several adverse physical and mental health outcomes in gay men. However, the intersection between homonegativity and racism remains little investigated in Brazil. The aim of this study was to assess, in a sample of cisgender Brazilian gay men, associations between skin color, homonegativity, psychological distress, and socioeconomic variables. Method: A cohort of 229 Brazilian gay men, 151 (66%) white and 78 (34%) black or brown were assessed. Participants completed the Internalized Homophobia Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory-II, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Results: In the general sample, high levels of homonegativity, symptoms of depression, and trait and state anxiety were found, particularly among young and low-income individuals. Black and brown participants reported significantly higher levels of trait and state anxiety, but not depression or homonegativity. Black and brown skin color were a predictor of trait and state anxiety, but not of homonegativity or depression. Conclusions: The high levels of psychological distress and homonegativity found in the general sample indicate the importance of developing preventive interventions of racial discrimination and sexual prejudice for the general community and psychoeducational and therapeutic interventions for Brazilian gay men, regardless of skin color. They also suggest the relevance of customizing these interventions to meet the specificities of black/brown Brazilian gay men, a population doubly exposed to the burden of stigma, considering the intersection between racial and sexual stigma in the Brazilian sociocultural reality.

In this article, I explore both my personal experiences within queer men’s communities engaging with dieting practices and my journey encountering assessments for gynecomastia. Gynecomastia, a medical condition that typically describes cisgender men’s experiences with enlarged breasts and extra fat tissue on their pectorals, is an under-discussed medical condition that intersects with conversations around gender, sexuality, body image and self-esteem. Within queer men’s communities, the hegemonic emphasis on toned, ‘fit’ bodies and muscular pectoral muscles leaves individuals with gynecomastia with body image and self-esteem challenges. Accordingly, hierarchical notions of queer masculinities often position feminine embodiment, particularly that which is associated with fat and fleshiness, as lesser than. In this poststructural autoethnographic article, I engage with my personal experiences of being assessed for gynecomastia and personal histories with body image challenges. Through this, I describe the hegemonic norms within queer men’s communities that constitute feminized and fattened embodiments as inferior and place my personal experiences with body image and self-esteem challenges within a larger socio-cultural and political landscape that devalues bodies outside of hegemonic and masculinized norms. I provide implications for dietetic professional practices throughout the article and advocate for an awareness of social and cultural norms around gender and sexuality in dietetic professional practices.

Critical scholarship has illustrated how COVID-19 public health policies can enact racism, classism, and cis-heteronormativity, perpetuating harms among vulnerable communities. We sought to examine the accounts of gay, bisexual, and queer men (GBQM) in Canada on how normative ideologies played out in COVID-19 directives and what impacts these orders had on their lives. Two rounds of semi-structured interviews with GBQM in Montreal (n = 30), Toronto (n = 33), and Vancouver (n = 30) were conducted between November 2020-February 2021 and June-October 2021 (N = 93). Our reflexive thematic analysis drew on the frameworks of cis-heteronormativity and intersectionality to examine how normative assumptions about kinship, sociality, and privilege in COVID-19 public health directives were understood and experienced by GBQM. Our participants explicated how cis-heteronormativity was pervasive in COVID-19 public health messaging, noting that stay-at-home orders and limits on social gatherings reinforced heterosexual forms of kinship. The privileging of cis-heteronormative sociality had detrimental effects on the sense of belonging and identity formation of many participants due to restricted access to queer spaces during the pandemic. Others indicated that stay-at-home orders failed to account for the heterogeneity of queer people’s experiences of homelessness and structural racism. These findings provide valuable insights into how public health efforts to control COVID-19 infections have overlooked the complex forms of kinship among GBQM, the importance of queer spaces and community organizations, and the varying vulnerabilities of diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ+) groups.

This article proposes an examination of recent interventions in queer studies that project queer culture and politics within a diasporic framework. Drawing on written narratives of what may be termed ‘queer migrations’, I seek to map the intersections of queer memories and diasporic spaces as they are uttered in terms of ‘home’. By following the movement of queer subjects between homes, I examine how ‘home’, migration and belonging relate to each other in multiple ways. First, I discuss narratives of queer migration as homecoming, where ‘home’ is a destination rather than an origin. I explore the connection between exile, displacement and migration-as-homecoming found in some discussions on queer diaspora. How do the ‘homes’ people move towards relate to those that are ‘left behind’? How does the movement toward some ‘homes’ operate through the fixing of others? Second, I consider the movement back home, how home is reimagined or reconstituted through memories that challenge the assumed idea of home-as-familiarity. Drawing on autobiographical renditions of queer migrations and remembrances of home, I discuss Elspeth Probyn’s argument about movement, desire and childhood as ‘suspended beginnings’. If one can never return ‘home’, as Probyn argues, what are the effects of coming home again and again on definitions of home? Third, I wonder how memories of home can relocate queerness within the home without reinstating home as originary moment. Is it possible to conceive of being ‘at home’ in a way that already encounters/engenders queerness, but without deploying an originary narrative of ‘home’? Running through this discussion is a reflection about identity narratives that seek to reconfigure spaces of belonging shaped through both movement and attachment. Can we consider differential movements of subjects as not simply about thinking about home as mobile – not simply about the undoing of home as stasis – but as the re-forming of the very bounded spatiality of homes?

Different religious narratives associate same-sex sexuality, in its various manifestations, with moral deviation or sin. Gay men who are socialized in more religious communities appear to experience and internalize greater levels of homonegativity, as well as to present greater indicators of depressive symptoms. The purpose of this study was to evaluate indicators of perceived homonegativity in the community and internalized, and signs/symptoms of depression reported by Brazilian gay men with a nominal religion and compare them to those reported by Atheists or Agnostics. Our sample comprised 194 Brazilian gay men, distributed into three groups: Christians (Protestants and Catholics, n = 71; 36.6%); Spiritualists (Kardecists or religions of African origin, n = 52; 26.8%) and Atheists or Agnostics (n = 71; 36.6%). The following measurement instruments were used: sociodemographic questionnaire, Internalized Homophobia Scale and Beck Depression Scale. High mean scores of depression were verified in all groups, and 60% of the sample presented some level of depression. There was a higher level of self-reported homonegativity among Christians and Spiritualists compared to that reported by Atheists or Agnostics, with the differences between the groups being significant. The regression analysis indicated a significant effect of religion on homonegativity, but not on depression. Our results suggest that gay men's chronic exposure to non-affirming religious affiliation contexts may harm the construction of a positive gay identity and should be taken into consideration when addressing mental health inequalities of sexual minorities.

Latino men who have sex with men are a group at high risk for HIV infection. Much of the research addressing attitudes and behaviors related to HIV among Latinos in the United States has overlooked differences based on nationality. Brazilian immigrants, in particular, are an understudied subgroup of Latinos. This study compared HIV-positive Brazilian gay men ( n = 75) with their Spanish-speaking counterparts from South America ( n = 103) and Puerto Rico ( n = 61) on a variety of HIV-related factors. Results failed to reveal any significant group differences in disclosure of serostatus or in behaviors relevant to sexual risk. Some differences in demographic characteristics, reasons for immigration, and acculturation, however, did emerge among the three groups. Implications for aggregation of Latino subgroups in HIV-related programs are discussed.

On Dankwa's Gift

Stealth breeding is the act in which a man removes a condom during sexual intercourse without the consent of the male partner. This paper explores the context of stealth breeding among gay men in Brazil. Through in-depth interviews with ten gay men who have experienced stealthing, this study highlights its sexual and mental health consequences. The participants, aged 21–49, reside in urban areas of Brazil. Using thematic analysis, the results indicate the dynamics and consequences of stealth breeding, including the decision to seek post-exposure prophylaxis the following day, the reporting of sexually transmitted infections and HIV, the emergence of mental health concerns, and the lack of support from professionals and institutions. This phenomenon has resulted in a significant gap in scientific, legal, and social awareness, which requires urgent attention at the national and global levels. Understanding stealth breeding would assist in the development of preventive strategies, particularly among gay men, thus meriting increased clinical and research attention.

Not many scenes are quite as rare in Brazil’s queer world as the presence of a Japanese Brazilian. Japanese migrants arrived in Brazil in the early 1900s to replace European laborers who had begun to rebel against poor working conditions on coffee farms,

Both queer and women’s studies disciplines have analyzed the relationship between gender and sexual identity. This chapter will examine how those fi elds trouble hegemonic masculinities to enable more complex analyses of the diversity of gender found in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. Drawing on research in queer, gender, and women’s studies, I will analyze the unique circumstances facing queer men in college. While this chapter will focus on men, I do not see gender as a static or given category. Indeed, I recognize that other members of the queer community perform masculinity. For this group of marginalized students, hegemonic masculinity can be just as oppressive to men as it is to women, and even more so for individuals who do not conform to either half the gender binary. Instead, many queer men perform variations of masculinity as a form of empowerment and resistance to heteronormative culture. Such performances become complicated if the campus climate is unwelcoming to LGBT students, which can be severely alienating for all queer students, including queer men of color. This chapter will examine the insights that queer, gender, and women’s studies theories of men and masculinities off er higher education professionals.

There has been little cross-national comparison of perceived discrimination, and few studies have considered how intersectional identities shape perception of discriminatory treatment in different societies. Using data from the ELSA-Brasil, a study of Brazilian civil servants, and the Americans' Changing Lives Study, a nationally-representative sample of U.S. adults, we compare reports of lifetime discrimination among race-by-gender groups in each society. We also consider whether educational attainment explains any group differences, or if differences across groups vary by level of education. Results reveal higher lifetime discrimination experiences among Black respondents in both countries, especially Black men, than among Whites, and lower reports among White women than White men. Brown men and women also reported higher levels than White men in Brazil. For all race-by-gender groups in both countries, except Brazilian White men, reports of discrimination were higher among the more educated, though adjusting for educational differences across groups did not explain group differences. In Brazil, we found the greatest racial disparities among the college educated, while U.S. Black men were more likely to report discrimination than White men at all levels of education. Results reveal broad similarities across countries, despite important differences in their histories, and an intersectional approach contributed to identification of these similarities and some differences in discrimination experiences. These findings have implications for social and public health surveillance and intervention to address the harmful consequences of discrimination.

This chapter examines the urban adaptations and peculiarities that made communal bathing in St. Petersburg so notably convenient as a context for queer encounters. It discusses how the goalposts in the negotiation over this space shifted in response to government action in the form of the Bathhouse Ordinance of 1879. The chapter then describes how and why this unprecedented and ambitious legislation failed to achieve the intended reforms and instead reinforced queer spatial patterns and the commercial role of sex in the city's bathhouses. The ordinance marked the transition from a bathing tradition in which prostitution was peripheral to one in which it was central to the commercial viability of this singular urban space. Ultimately, the failed reforms provide an important example of an evolving entente and negotiation regarding the city's queer spaces among urban administrative authorities, people who had a pecuniary interest in bathing, queer men, and the general public.

Drawing on the experience of Russian-speaking queer migrants in Berlin, the article furthers our understanding of queer migration by analyzing the motivations and integration strategies of LGBQ migrants, as well as their attempts to maintain and perform both their sexual and national identities in the post-migration context. The risk that they could be doubly marginalized—as ethnic minorities within the host society and sexual minorities in the established diasporic community—led to the establishment of Quarteera, a forum for Russian-speaking queers to perform and maintain both their sexual and ethno-cultural identities and give and receive social and psychological support, as well as a channel for expressing feelings of solidarity towards other Russian-speaking queers in the post-Soviet homeland. A further contribution of the article is thus highlighting the benefit of “queer diaspora” as a heuristic device to think about identity, belonging, and solidarity among sexual minorities in the context of dispersal and transnational networks.