LGBTQ literature in Costa Rica

LGBTQ literature in Costa Rica comprises literary works written by Costa Rican authors that involve plots, themes, or characters that are part of or related to sexual diversity. Historically, LGBTQ+ literature in Central American countries has been more limited compared to other countries in Europe or the United States. However, the topic has received greater academic interest in Costa Rica than in other Central American countries.

The earliest known reference to a homosexual person in Costa Rican literature was in the novel La esfinge del sendero (1916) by Jenaro Cardona, although it gave a negative view of homosexuality in which it is presented as a symptom of "social decomposition." Literature in the following decades maintained this negative characterization. La isla de los hombres solos (1963), by José León Sánchez, presents homosexuality as a "vice" in the context of the men detained in San Lucas Prison, where the narrator describes instances of transvestism and constant sexual encounters between men.

The introduction of the writer Alfonso Chase marked a new stage in Costa Rican LGBTQ+ literary representation, with works such as the collection of stories Mirar con inocencia (1973) and the collection of poems Los pies sobre la tierra (1978), in which he addressed homoerotic attraction in a more direct way. This was also seen in works by Daniel Gallegos and José Ricardo Chaves published around the same time. Although this meant a change in the representation of male homosexuality, Costa Rican lesbian literature continued to be almost nonexistent, with few exceptions, such as the poetry collection Hasta me da miedo decirlo (1987) by Nidia Barboza.

The 1990s saw the rise of José Ricardo Chaves as the main writer of national LGBTQ+ literature, beginning with his novel Los susurros de Perseo (1994), but above all else with Paisaje con tumbas pintadas en rosa (1998), a novel which details the tragedies caused by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Costa Rica through the story of Oscar, a middle-class homosexual man who lives in apparent tranquility before the arrival of the disease but then sees his partner and numerous friends die because of it.

The arrival of the 21st century saw the release of the lesbian novel Más allá del Parismina (2000) by Carmen Naranjo, which was one of the first Costa Rican lesbian literary works and follows a woman who begins a romantic relationship with another woman after escaping gender-based violence. Other notable works from the early 2000s include El gato de sí mismo (2005) by Uriel Quesada, and the anthology La gruta y el arcoíris (2008), edited by Alexánder Obando and considered the first work of its kind in Central America.