ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Hum. Dyn.
Sec. Dynamics of Migration and (Im)Mobility
This article is part of the Research TopicFrom Flight to Integration: Challenges and Resilience of LGBTIQ+ Populations in Forced MigrationView all articles
Latin American migrants' transit/ions and sexual agency reconfigurations
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- 2University of Oxford Centre on Migration Policy and Society, Oxford, United Kingdom
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This paper explores how gender-diverse migrants negotiate their sexual agency as they navigate migration structures, transiting sexual and geographical states of nepantla (in-betweenness). Following a transnational life-course approach, this paper situates gender-diverse migrants' sexual agency within the broader context of their lives, across origin and changing spaces of transit and destination. Employing qualitative data from photovoice workshops and individual interviews conducted in Tapachula, and Tijuana, Mexico, the research reveals intricate intersections between migration, sexuality, and identity change. Migrants' narratives highlight early experiences of nonconforming gender expressions that often led to rejection and violence, driving individuals towards survival migration. The findings illustrate how migration impacts identity transitions and affirmations, with new environments presenting both opportunities and obstacles in asserting sexual agency. Migrants' agential negotiations within restrictive migration structures revealed strategic compliance, as well as the active deployment of agency maximising strategies including alliances with other migrants and organisations. As migrants transit nepantla, navigating geographical and gendered mobility, migration governance structures and restrictions, they also build solidarity networks and find innovative ways to negotiate and assert their agency. This paper contributes to ongoing scholarly debates around sexual migration and the sexuality of migration research angles offering a nuanced understanding of sexual agency and identity change in migration, while emphasising the need for further research into the intersectional experiences of gender-diverse migrants.
Keywords: sexual agency, Nepantla, sexuality of migration, Latin America, gender diversity
Received: 20 Aug 2025; Accepted: 05 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Rios Rivera. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Abril Rios Rivera
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