ABSTRACT
This chapter relates how Sam's ethnic, class, and sexual identities mediated his relationships with his family and Portuguese community and, in turn, his university experiences. For Sam, university was a crucial space that helped him build confidence, assert his sexual identity, develop his connections and networks, and discover his passions around affordable food and environmental health. Seemingly feeling that he had entered an environment in which he could reveal his sexual identity, Sam used the space to engage in conversations about heteronormativity. He explained that being gay had a significant “impact on my first year” in part because it contributed to what he referred to as a “conflict within.” As Sam put it, referring to the homophobia he experienced in his Portuguese community, “if I'm gay, I can't be Portuguese. If I'm Portuguese, I can't be gay.” Using opportunities in community, at home, and in university, Sam challenged heteronormative understandings and definitions of masculinity including his family's traditional, “old-world” cultural expectations. While at university, and particularly through the Bridging program, he was able to access opportunities for growth and cultivate close friendships and contacts with whom he continues to connect.
