Chinese old gay
In recognition of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, the Diverse Elders Coalition is featuring stories relevant to AAPI older adults (their successes, their struggles, their history) during May. A recent story will be common every Thursday with additional posts shared throughout the month. Be sure to visit regularly during the month of May.
By Dion Wong
Dion Wong: from GRIOT Circle
Dion Wong is a year-old Chinese gay human. Retired since , Dion was a middle college teacher for over 34 years in San Francisco and was married in Canada in to his partner, Benjamin Aquino, Jr. They have been together for 18 years. Examine his experience as a gay Chinese man and his views on the broader older LGBT AAPI community.
As an older Chinese gay man, what carry out you think are some common issues you (and your community) face?
Personally speaking, I do not own many issues faced by many in the elder gay Chinese/Asian community. My partner and I are financially secure, have two homes (one in the East Bay and another in San Francisco), relate well with each other, have an
Like many other gay men in China, year-old Qu Bizhi, who lives in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou has lived a suppressed existence all his being. He had a wife, whom he married under dense social pressure, but the two might as well be strangers even though they lived under one roof for 30 years.
Qu found he was attracted to the same sex as early as his childhood. While all the other boys gathered together to talk about girls, he preferred to sit in the corner looking at handsome men.
In his early teens, Qu couldn't disallow his feelings any longer. He began to go to a local park, well-known for entity a gathering place for gay men. He would perch on a bench quietly to view every man passing by and announce himself recklessly to those who were his type.
He found he liked handsome, mature, bearded men. When he succeeded in starting a conversation, he would sit down next to the man, lean his head on the other man's shoulder, and listened attentively to whatever he talked about.
At age 16, he met a dude in his 30s. He was lofty and handsome with a long vertical nose and an
This Film Is a Tale of Two Older Gay Men Result Love in Hong Kong
Design & LivingFilm in Focus
No country for old gay men: Twilight’s Smooch by director Ray Yeung imagines two men already in their formative years and getting another chance at love
TextArthur Tam
“To exist, they’ve had to ignore who they are,” says director Ray Yeung about the older same-sex attracted men of Hong Kong, the subject of his latest motion picture, Twilight’s Kiss.
For a long period, the future was inconceivable for gay men. Even before the Aids pandemic, social stigma led to the pathologisation and criminalisation of the global community. Same-sex attracted men lived in the shadows of society, maintaining their veneer of heteronormative stability by marrying straight women at great charge to themselves and their families.
This idea of hiding one’s culture might seem like a distant memory to today’s self-actualised youth. Still, we purposefully leave behind our forebears to carry their trauma alone. “Their sadness and shame” are the story Yeung wants to tell. He says, “We wouldn’t be where we are today without what th
"I thought I was a social outcast.
But that changed one night in "
Ashan
Living parallel lives,
One, conforming to society in public.
The other, a secret in his heart.
Now in his 60s, he is part of China’s lost gay generation.
I
It wasn’t just love, it was also an awakening.
“On one night in , the sky had a violet hue. I didn’t realize at first, but I was walking around a popular cruising detect. A young man came up to me, his face tender as the deep velvet night.
"He glanced at me and our eyes met, it was as if we mutual a common heartbeat. He asked my phone number. I gave it to him, and he gave me his. Thinking about it, we were attractive brave. That year, I was 35, and he was Secretly, we had an emotional bond. After I met him, I knew one thing for sure. I was lgbtq+, and so was he.
"One year later, it was all over. He was going to marry a woman. There was nothing I could do. But I knew that our love would live on, in my memories.”
Ashan falls silent, his face reddening.
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