Telling the affecting stories of eighty gay, bisexual, and transgender (GBT) Latino activists and volunteers living in Chicago and San Francisco, Compañeros: Latino Activists in the Face of AIDS closely details how these individuals have been touched or transformed by the AIDS epidemic. Weaving together activists' responses to oppression and stigma, their encounters with AIDS, and their experiences as GBTs and Latinos in North America and Latin America, Jesus Ramirez-Valles explores the intersection of civic involvement with ethnic and sexual identity. Even as activists battle multiple sources of oppression, they are able to restore their sense of family connection and self-esteem through the creation of an alternative space in which community members find value in their relationships with one another. In demonstrating the transformative effects of a nurturing community environment for GBT Latinos affected by the AIDS epidemic, Ramirez-Valles illustrates that members find support in one another, as compañeros, in their struggles with homophobia, gender discrimination, racism, poverty, and forced migration. | Cover Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1. Social-class Origins and Trajectories Chapter 2. Gender Deviants Chapter 3. The Meanings of Latino Chapter 4. The Formation of Gay and Trans Identities Chapter 5. Life with HIV and AIDS Chapter 6. Getting Involved Chapter 7. Finding Compañeros Conclusion: The Road of Compañeros Appendix References Index | Received first place in the Best Health Book - English category in the Latino Literacy Now's International Latino Book Awards. — Latino Literacy Now
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Jesus Ramirez-Valles is a professor of community health sciences at the University of Illinois, Chicago.