"You Can Tolerate a Bee But You Can't Tolerate a Swarm of Bees": How Gay Latinos Experience Stigma, Chronic Othering, and Strangeness in Baltimore

Abstract

Gay Latino men are at risk of being stigmatized for dual marginalized identities. The present study is based on interviews with nine gay Latino men in the Baltimore region about their experiences with sexual, cultural, and ethnic-based stigma, and how these multiple forms of stigma intersect in their lived experiences. Participants indicated they are frequently discriminated against in gay spaces because of their ethnicity. Participants perceived Latino spaces to be homophobic and unwelcoming. Participants encountered racism and xenophobia in dominant culture spaces. A central theme is Latino, gay, and dominant culture space discrimination created a foreigner identity in participants in accordance with the stranger (Simmel 1908/2010). An intersectional framework is necessary to modernize the concept of the stranger and how it may be extended to dually marginalized individuals. Intersectionality can aid stigma researchers in creating a more nuanced stigma model.