University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
PhD Candidate/Instructor, History
Thesis Title: “‘Estamos en Todas Partes’: Homosexuality, Nation, and Modernity in Twentieth Century Mexico.”
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Nils Jacobsen
Antoinette Burton Martin Manalansan Mark Micale Jocelyn Olcott |
About
My dissertation, “‘Estamos en Todas Partes’: Homosexuality, Nation, and Modernity in Twentieth Century Mexico,” is the first large-scale history of its kind. I examine Mexican male homosexuality in two registers: as a social historical formation of queer male identities and communities and as a cultural historical articulation of Mexican national identity. I argue, in short, that the very category of “queer Mexican (man)” created as a pathology by social reformers, medical experts, and criminologists was foundational to the longue durée of political debates on citizenship and civil rights in modern Mexico. My project, which has been generously funded by Foreign Language and Area Studies, Tinker Foundation, University of Illinois Department of History, and other fellowships and grants, is based on extensive archival research and interviews. It explores three interrelated spheres: (1) the individual and collective histories of queer Mexicans, including nightlife, friendships, language codes, cruising patterns, community development, and resistance to repression in urban centers; (2) the overlapping use of public spaces and the press by queer and non-queer Mexicans; and (3) the ways in which queer lives intersected with homophobic, heteronormative discourses associated with national development that labeled queer men as deviant foils against which Mexican national identity could be defined. Homosexuality was a key concern in the formation of national identity, cultural icons, and ideologies that had far-reaching consequences, as well as for cultural, political, and medical-juridical authorities seeking to fashion Mexican modernity. I utilize a variety of sources—including criminological and medical texts, periodicals, security services documents, homosexual publications, photos, interviews, and personal writings—and provide a new model on incorporating sexuality studies into Mexican historical studies.
