Joaquin Marreros-Nunez

In the second half of the twentieth century, Peru’s LGBTQ history diverged sharply from its broader Latin American counterparts. While many countries experienced repression during the Cold War, Peru saw a period of sexual progressivism from the 1950s to the late 1970s, marked by increased visibility for queer individuals in public spaces. However, by the late 1980s, conservative backlash intensified until the present, making Peru a country without basic gender and sexual rights. This dissertation explores this path of divergence, explaining the multiple experiences of queer Peruvians and focusing on the vernacular term "maricón." This study aims to enrich queer Latin American historiography by highlighting how political, cultural, and social dynamics shaped maricones in Peru, using urban life, race, and violence as historical categories to understand the exceptionality of the Andean country compared to the rest of Latin America in terms of its queer history.