Lionel Cantú

Lionel Cantú Jr. (October 7, 1965 – May 26, 2002), 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.

Early years

Lionel Cantú Jr. was born in San Antonio, Texas, to parents Lionel and Rosario Cantú. He was one four siblings: two sisters, Rose Louise and Rachel Diane; and one brother, Charles. 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.

"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. He utilizes the example of a new national project based on Gay and Lesbian tourism in Mexico to argue that, modernization, industrialization, and urbanization have created queer spaces of legitimacy and a commodified gay presence. The book aims to provide documentation of the influence sexuality and queer identities have on transmigration. Cantu Jr., Luibheid, and some of their contributors use ethnographic methodologies to discuss the experiences of queer immigrants of color. The book includes an analysis of citizenship and the documentation process in relation to queer immigrants of color. Queer Migrations uses anthropological approaches to discuss queer sexual identities and transmigration. Cantu, Luibheid, and some contributors also use oral histories of gay and lesbian trans migrants to document marginalization within the migration process. The testimonies collected by the authors document the marginalization apparent at border locations within the U.S. Queer Migrations documents multiple examples of exploitation, marginalization, and sexualization revolving around U.S. border structural institutions.

Death

Following hospitalization and surgery to attend to a ruptured lower intestine, Dr. Lionel Cantú died unexpectedly of cardiac arrest on May 26, 2002. Cantú is survived by his life partner, Hernando Molinares of Santa Cruz, California and his parents, two sisters, and one brother. 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. 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. 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. 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.