Systemic, historical, and social exclusion of diasporic Filipinos obscures violent U.S. (neo)colonization of the Philippines. Social pressure to succeed through assimilation marginalizes sexually nonconforming (SNC) Pinx/ays in white hegemonic societies. I expand Acosta’s term, sexually nonconforming (2013), to acknowledge a broad category of cisgender women and nonbinary lesbians attracted to women. The term Pinx/ay recognizes participants of Filipino descent. My dissertation explores how interconnected social structures of race, gender, class, sexual orientation, and migration impact SNC Pinx/ays’ ability to navigate relationships in the U.S. and Canada. I analyze how participants’ experiences connect to existing theories of femininities and how gender, race, and class manifest in the diaspora.

Drawing from critical race feminism, intersectionality, and Peminist/Pinayist theories, I integrate SNC Pinx/ay cultural productions and data from semi-structured interviews to conceptualize SNC Pinx/ay experiences as counterstories that disrupt dominant narratives. I utilize the extended case method and introduce the method of kuwentohan moments as the spontaneous, relational exchange of stories that occurred during interviews. I analyze how these moments affirmed our (researcher’s and participants’) experiences and feelings in the context of oppressive social systems.

I find that socioeconomic class and perceptions of (dis)empowering gender expressions impacted SNC Pinx/ays’ connection to their families of origin. Social contexts informed how SNC Pinx/ays disidentified with gender hierarchies. I also find that dominant narratives of respectability and authenticity shaped essentialist discourse that marginalized many study participants, straining their familial and romantic relations. Lastly, U.S. popular culture informed SNC Pinx/ays’ self-identity and queer community in the Philippines and diaspora. By analyzing the transnational visibility of white lesbians from U.S. popular culture, I introduce queer neocolonial mediascapes as the ways in which the U.S. stays relevant in, and shape perspectives on, queer sexualities and gender formations in the Philippines. SNC Pinx/ay-centered pop culture provided invaluable affirmation and visibility to a couple of study participants. My research contributes to Critical Filipinx Studies by centering women and transgender sexualities with intersectional analysis beyond the context of reproduction, mothering, and caregiving.