The Everynight Politics of Expatriate Gay Men Across the Global South: Forging Community in Buenos Aires, Flirting with Nonexistence in Dubai

Abstract

As privileged migrants but also sexual minorities, how do gay expatriates engage in politics in the places they settle? Comparing across transnational hubs of the Global South, this article focuses on expatriate gay men and how politics is a variable part of their nightlife. Socio-legal context shapes the nature of the queer night, engendering distinct forms of everynight politics: informal yet impactful plays of power and practices of conviviality or avoidance that a group carries out specifically in nocturnal social settings. Ethnographic accounts of extended co-participation among gay expatriate communities contrast Buenos Aires (praised for LGBTQ+ inclusion) with Dubai (scoring poorly on all indices of LGBTQ+ status). In Buenos Aires, amidst an overall contentious political setting, queer nightlife is expansive and multifaceted, connecting to transversal queer politics. In Dubai, where there is no history of open struggle for LGBTQ+ rights, and gay—rather than more broadly queer—nightlife is hidden and siloed, fostering a politics of categorization. In short, privileged gay migrants forge community with other queer people in Buenos Aires, whereas in Dubai, they flirt in a state of official nonexistence and turn to a geopolitical categorizing of the world around them to grapple with their marginalized yet also privileged position. These divergent forms of everynight politics emerge in relation to the differently structured nature of marginality experienced by privileged gay migrants in these diverse cities of the Global South.

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