Brown and Gay in LA: The Lives of Immigrant Sons

Written by Anthony Christian Ocampo

Narrated by Grayson Villanueva

The stories of second-generation immigrant gay men coming of age in Los Angeles

Growing up in the shadow of Hollywood, the gay sons of immigrants featured in Brown and Gay in LA could not have felt further removed from a world where queerness was accepted and celebrated. Instead, the men profiled here maneuver through family and friendship circles where masculinity dominates, gay sexuality is unspoken, and heterosexuality is strictly enforced. For these men, the path to sexual freedom often involves chasing the dreams while resisting the expectations of their immigrant parents—and finding community in each other.

Ocampo also details his own story of reconciling his queer Filipino American identity and those of men like him. He shows what it was like for these young men to grow up gay in an immigrant family, to be the one gay person in their school and ethnic community, and to be a person of color in predominantly White gay spaces. Brown and Gay in LA is an homage to second-generation gay men and their radical redefinition of what it means to be gay, to be a man, to be a person of color, and, ultimately, what it means to be an American.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Spotify Audiobooks
• Release date: Oct 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667075631

Reviews for Brown and Gay in LA

[Nico · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book popped up in my list of recommended titles, so I decided to give it a go. I went into it not knowing what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Firstly, the narrator was terrific, which can make or break an audiobook for me. But the stories were compelling and instructive, at once heartbreaking yet hopeful. While this book has a more sociological bent, it reminded me a bit of NPR'S StoryCorps, with a focus on the experiences of second generation LGBTQIA+ people of color (although most of those profiled were gay men). As a 40-something white gay man, it was at times a hard listen, because it propelled me back to my awkward years as a closeted teen in rural America. I didn't expect the emotional rollercoaster this book would take me on, from anger, sadness, frustration, sympathy, recognition, and helplessness to a fragile sense of hope. I loved that it wasn't just a parochial examination of sexuality, masculinity, and race – the stories put a human face on the trauma and triumph, and I enjoyed every minute of it! Highly recommended!