A fading Tongzhi heterotopia: Hong Kong older gay men’s use of spaces

Modern heteronormativity in Hong Kong has been produced via British colonialism, land developers, and the family, and maintained through post-colonial administration. Together, these factors have resulted in a heterosexual culture of intimacy with rigid public/private distinctions. Homonormativity has emerged with the rise of tongzhi (synonym for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered) space in Hong Kong since the 1990s, but has had the effect of marginalizing certain tongzhi along lines of class, age, and the body. Based on the narratives of 14 older (60+) gay men in Hong Kong, this article discusses how they have negotiated same-sex intimacy in everyday sites at two specific times – in their parents’ homes and public toilets in the 1940s–1950s, when homosexuality was a crime and homosexual identity had not yet developed; and in their own homes and within the present-day tongzhi world, which presents them with new opportunities and challenges. Using a post-structuralist conception of power/resistance that juxtaposes power and resistance in the same site, this article argues that the private home and public spaces are sites of governmentality/resistance while tongzhi spaces are sites of desire/domination, with class and age being important social identifiers of Hong Kong gay men. Through radical use of spaces, a tongzhi heterotopia can be created and practised in both hetero-/homo-sexual worlds. This article contributes to the sociology of sexuality by exploring how governmentality via British colonialism (and post-colonialism), land use, and the family shape tongzhi bodies and space, exposing the domination of hetero-/homo-normativities in tongzhi lives, and highlighting tongzhi resistance in Hong Kong.