Brownness is Here, Queerness is Not Yet (T)Here

Abstract

which Luna characterizes as a queer departure, “because [missionaries] imagined futures of living with and loving sex workers instead of future husbands” (151). Nonetheless, Luna does not portray the relationship between missionaries and sex workers as a queer utopia. In fact, both parties were concerned they were being used by the other. Although they described their mission as being rooted in unconditional love, missionaries hoped that their actions ultimately would lead to sex workers loving God and leaving prostitution. It is these tensions that Luna so beautifully illustrates and analyzes, leaving readers with new visions for love, friendship, and kinship at the border.