Over the past two weeks we have been exploring the ways in which the state regulates the sexuality and reproduction of Latin@s through immigration laws and reproductive health policies.
The images in this post, submitted by student Ricardo Xuya, respond to the text ”Queering Mariel: Mediating Cold War Foreign Policy and U.S. Citizenship among Cuba’s Homosexual Exile Community, 1978-1994” by Julio Capó Jr. (2010. Journal of American Ethnic History 29 (4): 78-106.)
The class was broken up into small groups for discussion and responded to questions like: Under what circumstances were queer Marielitos asked to confess the ‘truth’ of thier sexuality? To whom did they need to make these confessions? In what ways did queer Marielitos use silence and confession to obtain access to U.S. citizenship?
Ricardo wrote, “These pictures related to Thursday’s class discussion because we were talking about sexuality and the government. Also we talked about “don’t ask, don’t tell.” I don’t remember if it was in our group or in class, but we discussed how people have to “hide” who they are. As well as how much power the country or government have over sexuality.”
In relation to this issue, student Gabrielle Herencia shared this link on “Excluded,” a film documenting the immigration struggles of a gay bi-national couple:
http://home.sandiego.edu/~lnunn/excludedthemovie/Home.html
