“I Always Have the Idea of Sin in My Mind. …”: Family of Origin, Religion, and Chilean Young Gay Men

Abstract

This research aimed to explore the influences of family's values and religiosity on the sexual identity life course of Chilean young gay men. Volunteer participants were recruited through invitations published by two sexual minority organizations based in Santiago. Six same-sex-attracted Chilean men between 18 and 24 years old were interviewed using a semi-structured interview. Foucauldian discourse analysis was used to explore how discourses about their sexual identity development were constructed, including the implications for subjectivity and the location of these compressions within a social and historical context. Findings revealed feelings of self-rejection and self-recrimination featured in the life course development of participants’ sexual identities that were embedded within the familiar and sociohistorical context in which they lived. In particular, parents’ religious beliefs regarding the abnormal and unnatural view of “homosexuality” shaped by Catholic and Evangelical churches played a crucial role in lack of acceptance during their development. The study showed the internal struggle faced by these Chilean young gay men to achieve their own acceptance and perceived normalization of their sexual orientation. Implications for therapy and education with young gay men living in a predominantly Christian cultural context and Latino countries are reviewed.

KEYWORDS:

• Latino
• gay
• sexual identity
• cultural context
• family
• life course
• religiosity

Notes

1. The terms homosexuality or homosexual will be used in this article in reference to sociocultural understandings of same-sex sexualities.

2. We will use the term sexual minority when various sexual identity categories were included, such as, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer.