Lionel Cantú
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Lionel Cantú Jr. (October 7, 1965 – May 26, 2002),[1] was an assistant professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who focused on queer theory, queer issues, and Latin American immigration. His groundbreaking dissertation, The Sexuality of Migration: Border Crossings and Mexican Immigrant Men, which was edited, compiled, and published posthumously, focuses on the experiences of Mexican-queer migrants.[2]
Early years
Lionel Cantú Jr. was born in San Antonio, Texas, to parents Lionel and Rosario Cantú.[3] He was one four siblings: two sisters, Rose Louise and Rachel Diane; and one brother, Charles.[2] As a San Antonio native, Cantú attended the University of Texas at San Antonio and graduated with a Bachelor's in Psychology and Spanish in 1991.[4] He continued his education at the University of California, Irvine, where he held the title of co-chair of the university's Lesbian and Gay Faculty/Staff network for nearly six years, while also founding a speaker series on sexuality-related topics called, the Lilac Collective.[4] In 1998, Cantú was named University of California, Irvine's Lauds and Laurels Outstanding Graduate Student, and earned his Master's and Doctoral degrees in social science with a focus on social relations and feminist studies in 1999.[3] Later that year, he became an assistant professor in sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and also received a UC President's Doctoral Fellowship to become a University of California, Davis postdoctoral researcher studying “how American gay culture was becoming globalized and commodified.” [2]
Research
Much of Dr. Lionel Cantú's literary work focuses on queer issues, migrant issues,
"De Ambiente: Queer Tourism and Shifting Boundaries of Mexican Male Sexualities"
In the article “De Ambiente: Queer Tourism and Shifting Boundaries of Mexican Male Sexualities,” published in 2002, Cantú uses oral histories from individuals involved in the queer travel industry to discusses the themes of otherness, boundaries, and political economies in relation to sexual identities among Mexican men.
Queer Migrations: Sexuality, U.S. Citizenship, and Border Crossings
Lionel Cantú Jr. is the co-editor of the 2005 book Queer Migrations: Sexuality, U.S. Citizenship, and Border Crossings. In Queer Migrations, Cantú Jr., Luibheid, and their scholarly contributors deal with queer immigration studies and questions of legitimacy.
Death
Following hospitalization and surgery to attend to a ruptured lower intestine, Dr. Lionel Cantú died unexpectedly of cardiac arrest on May 26, 2002.[3] Cantú is survived by his life partner, Hernando Molinares of Santa Cruz, California and his parents, two sisters, and one brother.[2] Two days after his death, family, friends, and colleagues crowded into a “standing room only” memorial service to remember Cantú at the Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, California, the largest church in the city.[2] On June 3, 2004, the UC Santa Cruz Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Intersex Resource Center was renamed in his honor to The Lionel Cantú Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Intersex Resource Center.[2] After Cantú's death, students and faculty from various areas of study formed the Lionel Cantú working group, in efforts to finish the projects that were in progress during the final moments of the scholar's life.[2] With the help of Nancy Naples and other members of the group such as Salvador Vidal-Ortiz, Patricia Zavella, Craig Reinarman, Olga Nájara-Ramírez, and Sarita Gaytan, Cantú's most profound work became published, including his book, The Sexuality of Migration: Border Crossings and Mexican Immigrant Men.[2]
References
- ^ David Woolwin, Ph.D, M.L.S. Hofstra University Hempstead, New York, “The Sexuality of Migration” Archived 2011-02-04 at the Wayback Machine, GLBT Reviews, 23 May 2010
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Candace West, “Lionel Cantú Jr” Archived 2013-06-19 at archive.today
- ^ a b c d “Lionel Cantu Jr.”, SF Gate, 01 June 2002
- ^ a b “Lionel Cantú Memorial Award” Archived 2013-06-19 at archive.today, University of California, Santa Cruz, Division of Social Sciences,
- ^ Feminist Theory Reader
- ^ a b c d e f g h “De Ambiente: Queer Tourism and Shifting Boundaries of Mexican Male Sexualities” GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies ed. Vol. 8. Duke University Press, 2002.
- ^ Eithne Luibheid and Lionel Cantu Jr., eds. Queer Migrations: Sexuality, U.S. Citizenship, and Border Crossings. Minneapolis: University Of Minnesota Press, 2005.
- ^ Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes. "Queer Migrations: Sexuality, U.S. Citizenship, and Border Crossings (Review)." The Americas 63.4 (April 2007): 671-672. 10.1353/tam.2007.0066.