We Carry the Border with Us: Queer Immigration, Border Crossings, and Culinary Identity in "I Carry You with Me"

Richard Reistma

Abstract


This article examines the complexities of borders and migrations shaped by queer desire in the film I Carry You with Me which tells the true story of a Mexican gay male couple from their youths in Mexico to their precarious success in the NYC restaurant industry.  Using the frame of food and foodways which defines the courtship and relationship, the film delves into homophobia, sexile, and precarious migratory status.  Food is the language of love, longing, and desire for each other, their homeland, and their families. Carrying their memories of fear and longing with them shows that borders are portable, no matter how they are crossed.


Keywords


immigration; borders; sexile; queer desire; food/foodways

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/lsmll.2026.50.2.106-117
Date of publication: 2026-07-10 10:36:26
Date of submission: 2026-01-06 20:46:31


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