Buscando mi tonal: a queer Chicano's search for self in academic literature

Includes bibliographical references (pages 172-190)This thesis attempts to challenge notions about queer Chicanos, contextualize their lives within Chicano/ Latino communities (and in the broader communities in which we exist) and dispute stereotypical, and harmful ideas about queer Chicanos, our families, and lives. It does this by conducting content analysis on Mesoamerican and Chicano Studies literature and presenting and highlighting work by Queer Chicanas/os and contributing the author???s auto-historia as a counter-narrative. A second goal of this thesis to examine and contribute to the academic discussion related to queer/ gay Chicano men by using a relational theory focused on sex and desire as proposed by Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano, (2010) and borrow and expand on the concepts of mestizaje and nepantlism as presented by Gloria Anzaldua (1987) in Borderlands/ La Frontera. The image of a lost and diseased queer Chicano/ Latinos is countered in this thesis by the idea of Queer Chicano in the process of healing and finding a home in their families and cultures