The Margins Within: What Gays and Lesbians Can Tell Us about Contemporary Chinese Society

As westerners have begun to interact with a globalizing China, we have become more curious about what the country is really like. Although we may generally be familiar with the Han people (China’s majority), many of us may not know about the rich complexity of China’s multi-ethnic, multilingual, and multicultural society. And even if we have been lucky enough to hear about the Tibetans, to learn about the Uighurs, or to tour minority areas in the southwest, there are less visible groups we may never encounter but who are a vibrant part of today’s China. In my work with one such group -- the gay and lesbian community in Beijing -- I have learned that people on the margins of society can teach us a lot about mainstream culture and values.This talk will focus on the daily lives and experiences of urban Chinese gays and lesbians, discussing what their attempts to fit in, to get away, and also just to have fun can tell us about contemporary Chinese society and culture.