Brown and gay in LA : the lives of immigrant sons / Anthony Christian Ocampo.

Brown and gay in Los Angeles

"Brown and Gay in LA chronicles the stories of second generation gay men living in Los Angeles to show how people living at the intersection of race, immigration, and sexuality are able to find agency within their families, schools, and communities"-- Provided by publisher

The stories of second-generation immigrant gay men coming of age in Los Angeles. Growing up in the shadow of Hollywood, the gay sons of immigrants featured in Brown and Gay in LA could not have felt further removed from a world where queerness was accepted and celebrated. Instead, the men profiled here maneuver through family and friendship circles where masculinity dominates, gay sexuality is unspoken, and heterosexuality is strictly enforced. For these men, the path to sexual freedom often involves chasing the dreams while resisting the expectations of their immigrant parents--and finding community in each other. Ocampo also details his own story of reconciling his queer Filipino American identity and those of men like him. He shows what it was like for these young men to grow up gay in an immigrant family, to be the one gay person in their school and ethnic community, and to be a person of color in predominantly white gay spaces. Brown and Gay in LA is an homage to second-generation gay men and their radical redefinition of what it means to be gay, to be a man, to be a person of color, and, ultimately, what it means to be an American. -- Provided by publisher.

New York : New York University Press, [2022]

xvii, 217 pages ; 24 cm.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-205) and index.

A note on language -- The gay second generation -- Lessons in manhood and morality -- Surviving school -- Escaping to college -- Becoming brown and gay in LA -- Not that gay -- Beyond acceptance -- Appendix: The research process.