His groundbreaking dissertation, The Sexuality of Migration: Border Crossings and Mexican Immigrant Men, which was edited, compiled, and published posthumously, focuses on the experiences of Mexican-queer migrants.

[3] Later that year, he became an assistant professor in sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and also received a UC President's Doctoral Fellowship to become a University of California, Davis postdoctoral researcher studying “how American gay culture was becoming globalized and commodified.” [2] Much of Dr. Lionel Cantú's literary work focuses on queer issues, migrant issues, race and ethnicity, and U. S. Latinos.

His book of a similar title, The Sexuality of Migration: Border Crossings and Mexican Immigrant Men, was published posthumously in 2009 by New York University Press, and was compiled and edited by Nancy A. Naples and Salvador Vidal-Ortiz.

[5] In the article “De Ambiente: Queer Tourism and Shifting Boundaries of Mexican Male Sexualities,” published in 2002, Cantú uses oral histories from individuals involved in the queer travel industry to discusses the themes of otherness, boundaries, and political economies in relation to sexual identities among Mexican men.

[6] While providing an overview of the economic ties between the U.S and Mexico, which he argues to be largely influenced by NAFTA and the actions of the PRI political party, Cantú discusses other major themes such as western queer imaginaries, sexual norms, and neocolonialism.

Cantu, Luibheid, and some contributors also use oral histories of gay and lesbian trans migrants to document marginalization within the migration process.

[2] With the help of Nancy Naples and other members of the group such as Salvador Vidal-Ortiz, Patricia Zavella, Craig Reinarman, Olga Nájara-Ramírez, and Sarita Gaytan, Cantú's most profound work became published, including his book, The Sexuality of Migration: Border Crossings and Mexican Immigrant Men.