Living in the Space Between: Finding the Modern Fight for LGBT+ Equality in Benjamin Alire Sáenz’ Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Abstract

Throughout history, queer identities have been fundamentally linked to disease. This paradigm complicates the process of identity formation for many in the LGBT+ community who have learned that leaving the closet often means being seen as threatening and diseased. These concepts have been exacerbated by moments in queer history like AIDS Epidemic and the fight for marriage equality. This struggle is exemplified in Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s novel, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, a story of two queer boys, Ari and Dante, growing up in El Paso, Texas, during the late 1980s. Through a historical examination of the text, a message of hope is found within the throws of the AIDS Epidemic for the young queer people who, in 2012, were bearing witness to one of the longest standing fights of queer history.