Jonny Quenga Borja

Jonny Quenga Borja (they/gui’/he) was born and raised in Guåhan (Guam) and comes from the Aguilat and Inda families. Jonny is a queer, CHamoru Ph.D. candidate in American Studies at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with a minor in Race, Indigeneity, Disability, Gender, and Sexuality (RIDGS) Studies. They obtained a Bachelor of Science in Speech Pathology & Audiology and Social Welfare & Justice from Marquette University in 2019. They are currently conducting fieldwork in Guåhan for their dissertation project titled, I Siná’dang I Taotao Tåno’ Siha: Queer CHamoru Stories and Lives of Guåhan. Utilizing close readings and discourse analysis, Jonny examines how queer CHamorus are obfuscated in Guåhan historiography and how gender and sexuality were "regulated" by colonial ideological state apparatuses including the law, education, and religion. Jonny believes that "traditional" archives--or physical documentation made by non-CHamoru individuals--do not equate to a "true" queer CHamoru past; autoethnography and oral histories complement archival research to argue that contemporary queer CHamorus offer unique insights and critiques for self-determination and sovereignty movements in Guåhan. Jonny's research has been supported by Steven J. Schochet Interdisciplinary Fellowship in Queer, Trans, and Sexuality Studies (2023-2024), the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change (ICGC) Research-Year Fellowship (2022-2023), the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (2020-2021), and the Creating Inclusive Cohorts Fellowship (2019-2020). When not researching, Jonny enjoys watching movies and TV shows that center queer individuals of color and the triumphs of traversing life with family, friends, and partners.