Beyond the Domestic Sphere: Desire, Intimacy, and Other Feelings in Collections of Queer Testimonios

Abstract: In this article, the author explores how the testimonios (or testimonial writing) of queer Spanish speakers across the Americas have attested to the social complexities embedded in alternative and dominant formulations of familial experiences. This project likewise considers how collections of queer testimonios from the early 2000s have the effect of decentering and reconfiguring the conventional family sphere in ways that benefit vulnerable populations. Instead of maintaining dominant familial paradigms, editors and participants involved in such collections (re)conceptualize familial experiences by breaking domestic silences around queer desires.