| dc.description.abstract | This dissertation in pastoral theology explores the pain and healing discovered through the parallels of im/migration and sexual identity (re)construction. It grows out of autoethnographic reflection and the search for words and spaces to become visible as a child of undocumented Mexican immigrants and as a queer Chicana feminist raised in a conservative protestant Christian household. Although pastoral theology prides itself on its expertise in healing and diversity, until now the discipline has paid little or no attention to these social locations. Despite a growing and broad interest in Latine and queer studies, pastoral theology has failed to attend to Latine LGBTQ+ and im/migrant communities. This dissertation asks how pastoral theology might better address the pain and healing of the Latine LGBTQ+ community through a close study of im/migration and queer identity development. For Latine LGBTQ+ persons, the place of the deepest pain and thus the greatest need for healing comes at the intersections of queer identity and migration experience. Drawing on Chicana feminists, and on queer Chicana cultural theorist Gloria Anzaldúa as a central figure, the dissertation argues that there are critical parallels between migration narratives and sexual identity formation, and that drawing such connections may open possibilities for pastoral theologians and caregivers working with Latine communities to comprehend and respond to the experiences of Latine LGBTQ+ persons. Theories of healing that do not consider the impact of migration on Latine communities and Mesoamerican thought are insufficient and neglect fundamental concerns and ills of these communities. Migration narratives have been a part of the social and psychological fabric of indigenous, mestizo, Latine communities long before Spanish colonization. Although the experience of migration and sexual identity formation run parallel to each other, the connections between them only become clear through a conscious act of resistance against policies, moral codes, and cultural norms that deny existence to these identities. Therefore, any theory of healing intended for Latine LGBTQ+ persons must trace the historical impact of migration on conceptions of self, attend to queer identity development and the parallels with migration, and turn to resources outside the discipline that inspire an integration of religion, psychology, and culture from a Chicana feminist perspective. | |
