Panama has been considered one of the most developed countries in Latin America. With high skylines and a modern metro system, this Central American country hides a true reality when we explore it in a deeper level. Like many other marginalized groups, LGBT communities in Panama have been invisible and ignored by the State. Incidents related to homophobia, transphobia, and hate crime have been taken for granted for many years. Instead, LGBT individuals have been blamed for behaving against social and sometimes religious norms. This book answers the researcher’s questions: (1) How can I use my transnational mariposa consciousness to document my lived experiences as a maricón in Panama? (2) What does it mean to be a gay man in Panama nowadays? (3) How do trans women’s experiences with a hostile society shape their everyday existence?
Juan A. Ríos Vega, Ph.D., Bradley University, is Associate Professor in the Department of Education, Counseling, and Leadership. He has published books, book chapters, and peer reviewed journals on K-16 Latinx education studies within the United States. Also, he has published extensively in Spanish on LGBTQ issues in Panama.
About the Author
1 Living on the Edges in Panama
1 Origins
2 Method
3 Summary
4 Overview of the Chapters
2 Being Born Different
1 Childhood
2 School Bullying
3 Acceptance
3 Having (Lack of) Support
1 Parents
2 Leaving Home
3 Mental Health Issues
4 Unpacking Homophobia
1 Internalized
2 Externalized
3 Social Media
5 Facing Social Challenges
1 Families, Friends, and Jobs
2 Self-Discrimination
3 Double Standards
4 Church and Politics
5 HIV/AIDS
6 Hate Crimes
6 What about Trans Women?
1 The Girl Inside
2 Out of the Closet
3 Support and Rejection
4 Being Transvestite and Transsexual
5 We Are Trans Women
7 A Hopeful Transnational Mariposa
1 Vulnerable Bodies
2 Gay Men Stereotypes
3 Trans Women s Journey
4
Maric n Phobia
5 LGBT Rights Are Human Rights
Appendix A: Notes on Methods
1 From Colonialism to 21st Century Homosexuality in Panama: A Literature Review
2 U.S. Imperialism
3 Militarism
4 21st Century
5 Methodology
6 Autoethnography
7 Ethical Concerns
References
This book represents an excellent resource for graduate and undergraduate students in education, sociology, social studies. At an international level, this book is a perfect asset for researchers and scholars interested in learning about the experiences of LGBT individuals in a Latin American country.