"Don’t need a pseudonym" : the exploration of sexual citizenship among young homosexual men in Hong Kong context

Abstract

Academic discussions on sexual citizenship in the west is heated. As an extended concept of citizenship, the discussions denote how the notion of sexual equality is incorporated into the identity politics of citizenship in Europe (mainly UK) and America. Thus, through conceptualizing sexual citizenship as sexual rights and interviewing 6 young homosexual men, this research outlines the social construction of sexual negotiation and identity among young homosexual men in Hong Kong. This thesis first argues that the discourse of equality is not unlimited, and it is not completely founded upon the sexual desire of the young gay men; rather, they believe their sexual rights are only valid when consents and legality are achieved in a certain order. Oppressions result when their identity and behavior are not acknowledged even if they have passed through the yardstick of consents and legality. These oppressions are evidenced in different social spaces, such as family, public spaces and peers. Personal agency of young gay men has transformed the politically-oriented space of contest into an arena that is everywhere, which the author refers to as the “omnipresence of contesting sites”. Young gay men compete everywhere with anyone to represent their own ideal identity as the normative homosexual identity. Last, this article illustrates techniques the young gay men adopt to confront their opposers on both the macroscopic and microscopic levels. The author stresses that microsite resistance should also be acknowledged and understood.