TIMOTHY HILDEBRANDT ties with the international community because of the unifying power of a globalized notion of what it means to be gay,others contend that discussions of identity should actually lead us to expect minimal or strained ties.This argument accepts a universalized gay identity,but suggests that it ignores important idiosyncrasies for LGBT people across cultural contexts.In his studies of Asia,Altman argues that a common gay identity makes it difficult for local LGBTs to assert an authentically'gay Asian'identity.23 For some,international gay activism can behegemonic'and 'neo- colonialist'in that success and political consciousness for all LGBT people is contingent upon 'swallowing this universalized gay identity whole',irrespective of local context.4Moreover,in creating this universalized gay identity,activists tend to rely on language that,while supposedly globalized,is overly simplistic and reflective of its European and American forebears. This globalized identity can have practical implications for LGBT activism.Issues pertinent to the international gay and lesbian movement(usually defined by activists in the US and Western Europe)can seem out of touch to activists elsewhere;what works to promote gay and lesbian rights in one context can fall flat in others.Tan contends that 'global queering'has the power to define gay and lesbian rights in ways that are culturally inappropriate and improbable for many,'mainly as gay marriages'26 Chinese activists are generally disinterested in same-sex marriage,placing it relatively low on the list of priorities for their organizations.They desire more fundamental 'gay rights'such as eliminating employment discrimination and diminishing family pressures.27 The global gay identity's inattention to important cultural nuance has been noted elsewhere.Gay Filipinos object to the preoccupation of 'coming out' among LGBT people elsewhere for a very practical reason:visibility is dangerous. Public spaces are 'not the place for pride',but for shame and degradation.28 Transnational ties that flow from this universalized identity do not always have a positive effect on local LGBT activists.Massad shows that in using universal understandings and frames in the Arab world,LGBT activists can actually provoke the promulgation of repressive policies.By bringing previously ignored discussion of sexuality into the open,political leaders have created new policies that codify archaic anti-gay attitudes. In sum,a globalized gay identity runs the risk of ignoring what is necessary for LGBTs in one context in favor of what is assumed best for those across all contexts. 23.Altman.'Global gaze/global gays',p.418.Altman also argues that the 'AIDS industry'has created a globalized perception of what it means to be a gay man(Altman,'Rupture or continuity?). 24.Stychin,'Same-sex sexualities and the globalization of human rights discourse',p.958. 25.Manalansan,'In the shadows of Stonewall',p.27.This identity also relies on a common language:English. Therefore,bonds between local and global activists are usually restricted to a small subset of the population who understand English.This link between common identity and common language can further limit opportunities for many local activists because most donors still require applications to be completed in English.Rob Efird.'Leaming the land beneath our feet:NGO"local learning materials"and environmental education in Yunnan Province',Journal of Contemporary China 21(76).(2012).makes a similar point about the tension between interational understandings of environmental education and local Chinese receptivity to such pedagogies. 26.Michael Tan,'A response to Altman',Australian Humanities Review,(July 1996). 27.Timothy Hildebrandt,'Same-sex marriage in China?The strategic promulgation of a progressive policy and its impact on LGBT activism',Review of International Studies 37,(2011),pp.1313-1333. 28.Manalansan,'In the shadows of Stonewall',pp.434-435. 29.J.Massad,'Re-orienting desire:the gay intemational and the Arab world',Public Cult 14(2),(2002). pp.361-385. 850
ties with the international community because of the unifying power of a globalized notion of what it means to be gay, others contend that discussions of identity should actually lead us to expect minimal or strained ties. This argument accepts a universalized gay identity, but suggests that it ignores important idiosyncrasies for LGBT people across cultural contexts. In his studies of Asia, Altman argues that a common gay identity makes it difficult for local LGBTs to assert an authentically ‘gay Asian’ identity.23 For some, international gay activism can be ‘hegemonic’ and ‘neocolonialist’ in that success and political consciousness for all LGBT people is contingent upon ‘swallowing this universalized gay identity whole’, irrespective of local context.24 Moreover, in creating this universalized gay identity, activists tend to rely on language that, while supposedly globalized, is overly simplistic and reflective of its European and American forebears.25 This globalized identity can have practical implications for LGBT activism. Issues pertinent to the international gay and lesbian movement (usually defined by activists in the US and Western Europe) can seem out of touch to activists elsewhere; what works to promote gay and lesbian rights in one context can fall flat in others. Tan contends that ‘global queering’ has the power to define gay and lesbian rights in ways that are culturally inappropriate and improbable for many, ‘mainly as gay marriages’.26 Chinese activists are generally disinterested in same-sex marriage, placing it relatively low on the list of priorities for their organizations. They desire more fundamental ‘gay rights’ such as eliminating employment discrimination and diminishing family pressures.27 The global gay identity’s inattention to important cultural nuance has been noted elsewhere. Gay Filipinos object to the preoccupation of ‘coming out’ among LGBT people elsewhere for a very practical reason: visibility is dangerous. Public spaces are ‘not the place for pride’, but for shame and degradation.28 Transnational ties that flow from this universalized identity do not always have a positive effect on local LGBT activists. Massad shows that in using universal understandings and frames in the Arab world, LGBT activists can actually provoke the promulgation of repressive policies.29 By bringing previously ignored discussion of sexuality into the open, political leaders have created new policies that codify archaic anti-gay attitudes. In sum, a globalized gay identity runs the risk of ignoring what is necessary for LGBTs in one context in favor of what is assumed best for those across all contexts. 23. Altman, ‘Global gaze/global gays’, p. 418. Altman also argues that the ‘AIDS industry’ has created a globalized perception of what it means to be a gay man (Altman, ‘Rupture or continuity?’). 24. Stychin, ‘Same-sex sexualities and the globalization of human rights discourse’, p. 958. 25. Manalansan, ‘In the shadows of Stonewall’, p. 27. This identity also relies on a common language: English. Therefore, bonds between local and global activists are usually restricted to a small subset of the population who understand English. This link between common identity and common language can further limit opportunities for many local activists because most donors still require applications to be completed in English. Rob Efird, ‘Learning the land beneath our feet: NGO “local learning materials” and environmental education in Yunnan Province’, Journal of Contemporary China 21(76), (2012), makes a similar point about the tension between international understandings of environmental education and local Chinese receptivity to such pedagogies. 26. Michael Tan, ‘A response to Altman’, Australian Humanities Review, (July 1996). 27. Timothy Hildebrandt, ‘Same-sex marriage in China? The strategic promulgation of a progressive policy and its impact on LGBT activism’, Review of International Studies 37, (2011), pp. 1313–1333. 28. Manalansan, ‘In the shadows of Stonewall’, pp. 434 –435. 29. J. Massad, ‘Re-orienting desire: the gay international and the Arab world’, Public Cult 14(2), (2002), pp. 361 –385. TIMOTHY HILDEBRANDT 850
LGBT ACTIVISM IN CHINA What it means to be 'gay Asian'or 'gay Chinese'-and the unique problems they face-is lost with a common identity.This discontinuity contributes to divisions and sometimes creates animosity:Chinese activists have frequently noted that the international community 'does not always know what is best for them'.Domestic activists recognize the uniqueness of their situations and understand the best tactics to employ and relationships to build. The political economy of LGBT activism in China Given that domestic context may change the way the LGBT activists work,political economy of activism-how activists secure political opportunities and obtain funding-is a more powerful explanation for weak international ties.It is first necessary to explain what allows activists and their organizations to exist.That we can speak of LGBT activism in China at all is owed to three key factors:policy changes have effectively legalized homosexuality;economic development has brought LGBT people together in urban centers,providing the chance for an aggregation of interests;and the growing problem of HIV/AIDS in China-combined with the government's interest in controlling its spread-gives LGBT groups the opportunity to provide an important public service. A key political opportunity allowing LGBT activism to emerge in China is the legalization of homosexuality.30 Although 1997 is commonly cited as the year the government 'decriminalized'homosexuality,this is a simplistic and somewhat misleading characterization of a more complex history.Homosexuality has not been explicitly illegal since the founding of the PRC.In 1957,the Supreme Court ruled that consensual sex between same-sex adults was not criminal.3!However,homosexual men were still arrested by police under Article 106 of the Chinese Criminal Code prohibiting general hooliganism',punishable by up to seven years'imprisonment.32 In 1993,the Ministry of Public Safety made some efforts to protect the rights of gay men and women by reiterating the 1957 ruling,but it was not until 1997 that hooliganism'was deleted from the criminal code.33 China's economic development has created conditions necessary for Chinese LGBT activism.Scholars have pointed to a positive relationship between capitalism and increasingly public homosexuality.Altman identifies a strong connection between the 'expansion of consumer society and the growth of overt lesbian/gay worlds'in Asia.35'In China,this is observable in at least two ways.First,economic growth in coastal areas has offered gays and lesbians the opportunity to leave their hometowns 30.Wilson."Introduction'.Scott Wilson,'Seeking one's day in court:Chinese regime responsiveness to international legal norms on AlDS carriers'and pollution victims'rights'.Joural of Contemporary China 21(77). (2012),notes that legislation can create political opportunities for NGOs and activists. 31.Beichuan Zhang and Quansheng Chu,'MSM and HIV/AIDS in China'.Cell Research 15(11-12),(2005), Pp.858-864. 32.Fangfu Ruan,Sex in China:Studies in Sexology in Chinese Culture (New York:Plenum,1991). 33.A Sichuan activist noted that although it took 50 years to legalize homosexual sex.China was five years ahead of the United States,referencing the 2003 US Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v.Texas ruling anti-sodomy laws unconstitutional.Still,the government has not promulgated policies that explicitly protect gays and lesbians. 34.John D'Emilio,'Capitalism and gay identity'.in A.Snitow,C.Stansell and S.Thompson,eds,Powers of Desire:The Politics of Sexualiry (New York:The Monthly Review Press,1983). 35.Altman,Rupture or continuity?". 851
What it means to be ‘gay Asian’ or ‘gay Chinese’—and the unique problems they face—is lost with a common identity. This discontinuity contributes to divisions and sometimes creates animosity: Chinese activists have frequently noted that the international community ‘does not always know what is best for them’. Domestic activists recognize the uniqueness of their situations and understand the best tactics to employ and relationships to build. The political economy of LGBT activism in China Given that domestic context may change the way the LGBT activists work, political economy of activism—how activists secure political opportunities and obtain funding—is a more powerful explanation for weak international ties. It is first necessary to explain what allows activists and their organizations to exist. That we can speak of LGBT activism in China at all is owed to three key factors: policy changes have effectively legalized homosexuality; economic development has brought LGBT people together in urban centers, providing the chance for an aggregation of interests; and the growing problem of HIV/AIDS in China—combined with the government’s interest in controlling its spread—gives LGBT groups the opportunity to provide an important public service. A key political opportunity allowing LGBT activism to emerge in China is the legalization of homosexuality.30 Although 1997 is commonly cited as the year the government ‘decriminalized’ homosexuality, this is a simplistic and somewhat misleading characterization of a more complex history. Homosexuality has not been explicitly illegal since the founding of the PRC. In 1957, the Supreme Court ruled that consensual sex between same-sex adults was not criminal.31 However, homosexual men were still arrested by police under Article 106 of the Chinese Criminal Code prohibiting general ‘hooliganism’, punishable by up to seven years’ imprisonment.32 In 1993, the Ministry of Public Safety made some efforts to protect the rights of gay men and women by reiterating the 1957 ruling, but it was not until 1997 that ‘hooliganism’ was deleted from the criminal code.33 China’s economic development has created conditions necessary for Chinese LGBT activism. Scholars have pointed to a positive relationship between capitalism and increasingly public homosexuality.34 Altman identifies a strong connection between the ‘expansion of consumer society and the growth of overt lesbian/gay worlds’ in Asia.35 In China, this is observable in at least two ways. First, economic growth in coastal areas has offered gays and lesbians the opportunity to leave their hometowns 30. Wilson, ‘Introduction’, Scott Wilson, ‘Seeking one’s day in court: Chinese regime responsiveness to international legal norms on AIDS carriers’ and pollution victims’ rights’, Journal of Contemporary China 21(77), (2012), notes that legislation can create political opportunities for NGOs and activists. 31. Beichuan Zhang and Quansheng Chu, ‘MSM and HIV/AIDS in China’, Cell Research 15(11– 12), (2005), pp. 858 –864. 32. Fangfu Ruan, Sex in China: Studies in Sexology in Chinese Culture (New York: Plenum, 1991). 33. A Sichuan activist noted that although it took 50 years to legalize homosexual sex, China was five years ahead of the United States, referencing the 2003 US Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas ruling anti-sodomy laws unconstitutional. Still, the government has not promulgated policies that explicitly protect gays and lesbians. 34. John D’Emilio, ‘Capitalism and gay identity’, in A. Snitow, C. Stansell and S. Thompson, eds, Powers of Desire: The Politics of Sexuality (New York: The Monthly Review Press, 1983). 35. Altman, ‘Rupture or continuity?’. LGBT ACTIVISM IN CHINA 851