Rupture or Continuity?

The Internationalization of Gay Identities

Author(s): Dennis Altman
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Social Text, No. 48 (Autumn, 1996), pp. 77-94
Published by: Duke University Press
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 Rupture or Continuity?
THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF GAY IDENTITIES

No one can denythepersisting continuities

of longtraditions,
sustained DennisAltman
national
habitations, and
languages, cultural but
geographies, thereseemsno
reasonexceptfearand prejudiceto keepinsistingon theirseparation
and
as
distinctiveness,ifthat
was all human was
life about.
-Edward Said, Cultureand Imperialism

Earlyin 1995 postersappeared on streetposts in Manila's Malate district

advertising a new gym,withillustrations of muscular(white)men taken,
presumably, fromoverseasgaymagazines.The postersseemedto promise
a luxuriousgym/sauna of the sortfoundin Paris or Los Angeles,but the
gym itself
is in an old garage,as smalland darkas theothergymsthatdot
theTaftAvenuearea. In thedistinction betweentheimageand thereality
lies much of theparadoxof theapparentglobalizationof postmoderngay
identities.
Modernand postmodern can be used here interchangeably, forboth
termsrepresenttherapidreshapingof extensiveareas oflifeand economy
in previouslyunderdevelopedpartsof theworldto fittheneeds of West-
ern capitalism.Most people live in an intermediateposition between
traditionand (post)modernity, and structures of sex and genderreflectthe
ambiguitiesand contradictions thatthisintermediacy imposes.I thinkof
examplessuch as a Filipinoanthropologist who aftersevenyearsstudying
in the United Statesstillidentifies withthe bakla (effeminate homosexu-
als) of his native town; but also of young American street
kids who bash
"fags" and yetwillsleep with other men formoney(or sometimes,unac-
knowledged,witheach otherforaffection).
It has become fashionableto point to the emergenceof "the global
gay,"theapparentinternationalization of a certainformof social and cul-
tural identitybased upon homosexuality.He-sometimes, thoughless
often,she-is conceptualizedin termsthatare verymuch derivedfrom
recentAmericanfashionand intellectualstyle:young,upwardlymobile,
sexually adventurous,with an in-your-faceattitudetowardtraditional
restrictions and an interestin bothactivismand fashion.Images of young
men in baseball caps and Reeboks on the streetsof Budapest or Sio
Paulo, of "lipsticklesbians"flirting on portabletelephonesin Bangkokor
demonstrating in the streetsof Tokyo-none of whichare fictitious-are

Social Text48, Vol. 14, No. 3, Fall 1996. CopyrightC 1996 by Duke University
Press.
 partof theconstruction of a new category,or moreaccuratelytheexpan-
sion of an existingWesterncategory,thatis partoftherapidglobalization
of lifestyleand identitypolitics,the simultaneousdisappearanceof old
conceptsand inventionof new ones.
These observationsdo not onlyreflecta Westerninterpretation; ref-
erencesto "global society"are commonin publicationsfromgay groups
in developing countries. (For example, the term is used in Gaya
Nusantara,thepublicationoftheIndonesiangay/lesbian network.)1 There
is evidence of this new gay worldparticularly in SoutheastAsia, South
and CentralAmerica,and EasternEurope. The mostobviousindicatoris
the developmentof commercialspace, thatis, of entertainment venues,
and
restaurants, shops that caterto a homosexual
distinctly clientele.Both
Western and non-Westernexperiencessuggest that such space provides
importantopportunities forgaymen and lesbiansto meetand to develop
social and politicalties. (One of the firstgay groups in Manila took its
name fromtheLibrary,a bar whereitsfirstmeetingswereheld.)
Based on the listingsin the 1994-95 SpartacusInternationalGay
Guide,the commercialscene seems to be expandingrapidlyoutsidethe
so-called First World. The Guide lists each of the followingplaces as
having more than twentycommercialestablishmentscateringto gays:
Bogota',Budapest,Buenos Aires,Caracas, Istanbul,Johannesburg, Lima,
Manila, Mexico City,Monterrey,Prague, San Jose (Costa Rica), San
Juan,and Tangier.In addition,Brazil and Japanare listedas each having
fivecitieswithmorethantwentyestablishments, and Thailand is listedas
having four citieswithmore thantwenty establishments.2These figures-
whichshouldbe regardedwithsome skepticism-suggest thataffluenceis
one, but certainlynot the only,factorin explainingthe emergenceof a
commercialgayworld.Note, forexample,therelativeoverrepresentation
of Latin Americaas againsttheunderrepresentation of ChineseEast Asia,
whichsuggeststhatthereare politicaland culturalfactorsinvolved.
Such crude counting,however,does not adequatelyemphasizethe
impactof Western-style consumerism,as in the growthof luxuriousdis-
cos in a numberof places or the developmentof overtlygay saunas very
different fromtraditionalbathhouses.Anothersignificant indicatorof its
impactis thedevelopmentof a gay/lesbian press (forexample,in Mexico,
Brazil,Hungary,and Hong Kong), whichis almostalwaysrelatedclosely
to botha commercialworld(foradvertising revenue)and enoughpolitical
freedomto escape censorship.But perhapsmost significant is the emer-
of
gence gay/lesbian politicalgroups.
Gay organizinghas somethingof a historyin South and Central
America,withoriginsin the 1970s in Brazil,Mexico, and the southern
cone, which were then crudely-and cruelly-repressedby the rise of
militaryregimes,especiallyin Argentinaand Chile.3But such organizing

78 Dennis Altman
has increasedworldwidein the 1990s, especiallyin EasternEurope and in Is there . . . a
Asia. Note, forexample,the firstAsian Lesbian Network,organizedby
the Thai group Anjaree in 1990; the firstIndonesianLesbian and Gay universal
gay
Congress in December 1993 attendedby membersof ten groups; the
existenceof theProgressiveOrganizationof Gays in thePhilippinessince linkedto
identity
1992; Japanesedevelopmentsaroundthe 1994 International AIDS Con-
This
modernity?
ference in Yokohama and a subsequent demonstrationorganized by
Occur, a groupofJapaneselesbiansand gaymen; and thefirstorganized is notto arguefor
meetingof gay-identified men in India at the end of thatyear.4
The basic questionis whetherthese developmentssuggesta funda- a transhistoric
or
mentalchange equivalentto the creationof powerfulgay communities
witheconomic,social,and politicalcloutas in NorthAmerica,Australasia, essentialist
and northernEurope.5 Is there,in otherwords,a universalgay identity
linkedto modernity? This is not to arguefora transhistoricor essentialist position.. . but
position (a' la Whitamor Boswell6)but ratherto questionthe extentto
which the forcesof globalization(both economic and cultural)can be ratherto question
said to produce a common consciousnessand identitybased on homo-
theextentto
sexuality.Critics have argued that globalismand consumerismcreate
individualismand greaterlife choices, which consequentlylead to the
whichtheforces
emergenceof Western-style identitiesand identitypolitics.As Rosalind
Morrisput it: "We knowthattheapparatusof poweris different in every ofglobalization...
society and that the discourses of sex and gender differfrom context to
context.Yet a considerablebody of criticaltheorypersistsin a mode of can be said to
historicalanalysis-the emphaticallylineargenealogy--thatderivesfrom
theWest'sspecificexperienceof modernity."'7 producea
To avoid slippinginto this lineargenealogywe need to understand
sexualityas involvingthe complex and varied ways in which biological common
possibilitiesare shaped by social, economic,political,and culturalstruc-
tures.The argumentaboutthereshapingofhomosexualities in developing consciousness
countriesoffersa particularwayofunderstanding thewholefabricof the
and identity
sex/gender order.8The contemporary worldis simultaneously experiencing
thecreation/solidificationofidentities and theirdissolution:we don'tknow
based on
yetifidentitiesbased on sexualitywillbe as strongas thosebased on race
or religion.The idea of "gay/lesbian"as a sociologicalcategoryis only
homosexuality.
about one hundredyearsold, and its survivaleven in Westerndeveloped
countriescannotbe takenforgranted.
The problemthusbecomes one of findingthe rightbalance between
traditionand modernity, whilerecognizingthatthesetermsthemselvesare
vague, problematic, and politicallycontested;appealing to "traditional
moral values" in manyPacificislands,forexample,means appealingto
importedChristianidealswhichwerecentralto thecolonialdestruction of
existingsocial structures.As Allan Hanson writes (of New Zealand):
"'Traditionalculture'is increasingly recognizedto be more an invention

or Continuity?
Rupture 79
 constructedforcontemporary purposesthana stableheritagehanded on
fromthepast."9
There is a constantdangerof romanticizing "primitive"homosexual-
ity,seen for
veryclearly, example, in the popularanthropology of Tobias
Schneebaum, who writes (and presumablybelieves): "It was in Asmat
[WestIrian],however,thatI feltforthefirsttimepartof a universalclan,
forAsmatculturein someregionsnotonlyallowedforsexualrelationships
betweenmen butdemandedthatno male be withouthismale companion,
no matterhow many wives he had or how manywomen he mightbe
sleepingwith."'1
Similarly,Westernromanticism abouttheapparenttoleranceofhomo-
eroticismin manynon-Western culturesdisguisesthe realityof persecu-
tion,discrimination, and violence,whichsometimesoccursin unfamiliar
forms.Firsthandaccounts make it clear thathomosexualityis farfrom
beinguniversally accepted-or eventolerated-insuch apparentparadises
as Morocco, the Philippines,Thailand, and Brazil: "Lurkingbehindthe
Brazilians'pride of theirflamboyant drag queens, theirrecentadulation
of a transvestitechosenas a modelof Brazilianbeauty,theiracceptanceof
gaysand lesbiansas leadersofthecountry'smostwidelypracticedreligion
and the constitutional protectionof homosexuality, lies a differenttruth.
Gay men, lesbians and transvestitesface widespread discrimination,
oppressionand extremeviolence.""

What Constitutesa "Modern"Gay Identity?

Arguingthat the very idea of a homosexual/heterosexual divide only

became dominantin the United States in the mid-twentieth century,
George Chauncey writes: "The most strikingdifferencebetween the
dominantsexual cultureof the earlytwentiethcenturyand thatof our
own era is thedegreeto whichtheearlierculturepermitted mento engage
in sexual relationswith other men, oftenon a regularbasis, without
requiringthemto regardthemselves-or be regardedby others-as gay.
... Many men ... neitherunderstoodnororganizedtheirsexualpractices
along a hetero-homosexual axis."12Today,becoming"gay" is to takeon a
particularset of stylesand behaviors.As Paul Russell'sprotagonist
writes:
"Almostthroughan act ofwill,I had made myselfembracethisnew iden-
tityofmineand neverlookback.I had gayfriends.I ate at gayrestaurants.
I wentto gay bars. I had myapartmentnear DuPont Circle."13
Chauncey'sformulation is probablytrueformost societies,manyof
which are farmore relaxedabout homosexualbehavior,at least among
men,thanwerethepre-gayliberationUnitedStatesand WesternEurope.

80 Dennis Altman
Of Java,for example, Benedict Anderson argues that "male homosexuality
at least was an unproblematic, everyday part of a highly varied Javanese
sexual culture"14; similar comments are often made about Bali. North
African men are often claimed to regard sex with boys as totallynatural.15
There is an extensive literature suggesting that homosexual behavior-
though not identity-is widespread throughout Latin America, where
what is crucial is not gender but whethera man is "active" or "passive."16
The only possible generalization may be that there exists a far greater
variety of understandings of sex/gender arrangements than tends to be
recognized by official discourses. Moreover, attempts to use Western
terminology-gay people; men who have sex with men, bisexuals-often
block us from understanding the differentways in which people under-
stand theirown sexual experiences and feelings.Reporting on a discussion
among gay and lesbian Asians at a recent International AIDS Confer-
ence, Shivananda Khan argued:

There were strongculturalframeworks of "thirdgender"whichhave had a

long history and many within such groups have played socio-political-
religious roles in theirsocieties.To transposeWesternunderstandings(and
subsequentlyHIV/AIDS preventionprograms) is to destroythese social
constructionsand recreatethem in a Westernmold. Discussion revolved
aroundmovingawayfromgenderdiomorphicstructures thatarose fromthe
Westand talkabout AlternateGenders,in otherwordsmorethantwo gen-
ders. . . . Similarlywe should be talkingabout lesbian identitiesand gay
identities,should be discussinghomosexualitiesinstead of homosexuality,
communitiesinsteadof community.17

In most traditionalAsian and Pacific societies, there are complex vari-

ations across gender and sex lines, with "transgender" people (Indonesian
warias, Thai kathoey,Filipino bayot,Polynesian fa'fafine,etc.) character-
ized by both transvestite and homosexual behavior. As Gilbert Herdt
writes,"Sexual orientationand identityare not the keys to conceptualizing
a thirdsex and gender across time and space."18 In many societies there is
confusion around the terms. Differentpeople use terms such as bayotor
waria in differentways, depending on whether the emphasis is on gender
or on sexuality: the terms can referto men who wish in some way to be
women, or they can refer to men attracted to other men. Anthropology
teaches us the need to be cautious about any sort of binary system of
sex/gender.Niko Besnier uses the termgenderliminalityto avoid this trap,
stressing that such liminalityis not the same as homosexuality: "sexual
relations with men are seen as an optional consequence of gender liminal-
ity,ratherthan its determiner,prerequisite or primary attribute."19
Certainly most of the literatureabout Latin America stresses that a
homosexual identity(as distinct from homosexual practices) is related to

Ruptureor Continuity? 81
 the rejectionof dominantgenderexpectations,so that"a real man" can
have sex withothermen and not riskhis heterosexualidentity. As Roger
Lancasterputs it: "Whateverelse a cochonmightor mightnot do, he is
tacitlyunderstoodas one who assumes the receptiverole in anal inter-
course.His partner,definedas 'active'in thetermsoftheirengagement, is
not stigmatized,nordoes he acquirea specialidentityof anysort."20
Thus
the natureratherthanthe objectof the sexual act becomes thekeyfactor.
In Westerncountriesduringthehundredyearsor so beforethebirth
of the contemporarygay movement,the dominantunderstandingof
homosexualitywas predicated on a confusionbetween sexualityand
gender.In otherwords,the "traditional"viewwas thatthe "real" homo-
sexualis theman who behaveslikea woman.Somethingof thisconfusion
remainsin popularperceptions.But formostWesternhomosexualmen it
ended withthedevelopmentof thegaymovementat thebeginningof the
1970s (althougheven today "drag" remainsan importantreminderof
theidea thatsexual subversionis also gendersubversion).As Gail Rubin
has pointed out: "Since the mid-nineteenth centurytherehas been a
slowlyevolvingdistinctionbetweenhomosexualobjectchoice and cross-
gender or trans-gender behavior. . . . The development of the leather
communityis part of a long historicalprocess in whichmasculinityhas
been claimed,asserted,or reappropriated bymale homosexuals."21
Modern formsof homosexualityoftenexistside-by-sidewitholder
traditionalones, and theboundariescan appear eitherblurredor distinct
dependingon one's vantagepointand ideology.Thus some homosexuals
in non-Westerncountriesseek to establishhistoricalcontinuitieswhile
othersare more interestedin distancingthemselves,psychologically and
analytically,fromwhattheyconsiderold-fashioned formsofhomosexual-
ity,especiallythosethatseembased on crossgender lines.In Indonesia,for
example, local men who identify themselves as gaywill sometimessharply
distinguish themselves from banci or waria (terms which includeeffemi-
nate men and, occasionally,masculinewomen22)but in othercontexts
will identifywiththem. The titleof the Indonesianlesbian/gay journal
Gaya Nusantara, which literally means "Indonesian style,"capturesthis
ambivalencenicelywithitsechoesofbothtraditional and modernconcepts
of nationand sexuality.It is oftenassumedthathomosexualsare defined
in mosttraditional societiesas a thirdsex,but thatas wellis too schematic
to be universallyuseful.As PeterJacksonpointsout, the same termsin
Thailand can be genderand sexual categories.23
To identifyas homosexual withoutrejectingconventionalassump-
tions about masculinityor femininity (as withtoday's "macho" gay or
"lipsticklesbian" styles)is one of the distinguishing featuresof modern
homosexuality. This new freedomis bothdistinctively differentfromany
premodernformations of sexualityand intimately relatedto otherfeatures

82 Dennis Altman
ofmodernlife.Modernhomosexualities are characterized bythefollowing same-
Imagining
characteristics: betweensexual and gendertransgres-
(1) a differentiation
sion; (2) an emphasison emotionalas much as on sexual relationships; sex relationships
and (3) thedevelopmentof public homosexualworlds.
as thecentralpart
Homosexualityis no longer considered an expressionof "really"
being a woman in a man's body (or vice versa), but ratheras physically
of one'slifemarks
desiringothersof one's own genderwithoutnecessarilywishingto deny
one's masculinity/femininity. These changesare playedout in somewhat
the realcreation
different formsin different culturalsettings.Thus Jacksonspeaksof there
being fouror fivecategoriesof sex/gender(phet)in Thailand, and of the ofa specific
newmasculinization ofhomosexualsso thatgaymen-an emerging category
-are those who desire each other.Richard Parkerhas writtenof the homosexual
emergenceofnew "systemsofthoughtin Brazil,"whereby"sexualpractices
have takenon significance notsimplyas partoftheconstruction of a hier- We are
identity.
archyofwomenand men,but as a keyto thenatureofeveryindividual."24
Similarly,thetermgaysuggestsnotonlya sexualbutalso an emotional speakinghereof
definition.As ChristopherIsherwood once said, "You know you are
homosexual when you discoveryou can love anotherman."25 In other an emotionalas
words,imaginingsame-sexrelationshipsas the centralpart of one's life
muchas ofan
marksthereal creationof a specifichomosexualidentity. We are speaking
here of an emotionalas much as of an eroticeconomy.As one (anony- eroticeconomy
mous) surveyof homosexuality in Pakistanput it: "'Gay' impliesa legiti-
mationof a relationshipthatruns counterto family,and thereforegay
lifedoes not existin Pakistanin general,or in Karachiin particular.From
a practicalstandpoint,two loverswould findthemselveswithouta social
context.... Human beingsdo tend to develop emotionalbonds, and in
Pakistanthesebonds eitherresultin tragedyor unacceptable(to a West-
ernizedsensibility) compromiseto stealprivatemomentsoftendernessor
sexual release."26
There are growingaccountsof such relationships in developingcoun-
triesand a moveawayfromrelationships betweenlocals and Westerners to
relationswhichare, at least on the surface,open and egalitarian,both in
termsof unspecifiedrole playingand in termsof emotional(and often
sexual) reciprocity.There is a clear distinctionbetweena willingness/
desire for sex betweenmen and the creationof thisdesire as a central
emotionallodestone.I thinkof a Moroccan friendwho definedhimselfas
homosexual,not bisexual, and thus consciouslyset himselfapart from
otherpresumedbisexual men. There is a need to examineemotionalas
much as sexual fantasies;the latterare likelyto be polymorphous(as
revealedin much sexologyresearch)but theformerare oftenat thesame
timeconservative(settlingdown in a couple) and subversive(wherethe
couple is of the same gender; thus the enormousreactionagainst gay
marriageor recognitionof gay couples).

Ruptureor Continuity? 83
 One mightask whose scriptsare beingplayedout as morepeople in
developingcountriesadopttheidea of forming homosexualcouples.This
goes beyond the expression of sentiment as partof eventransitory sexual
transactions;"I love you" is oftena necessaryexcuse forsex as it is for
manyWesternteenagers.But as someone once asked me, Is themove to
imagine oneselfin a lastinghomosexualrelationshipthe acting out of
Chinese opera or soap opera? As most societiesexhibita greatdeal of
homosociability, and oftenphysicalaffection betweenmen,does thismean
that all we are seeing is a Westernization-andperhaps a limiting-of
alreadyexistingrelations?The rhetoricsofliberationand modernity rarely
allowforthefactthateach changecontainsa restrictive as wellas a liber-
atorycomponent.
A new willingnessto discusshomosexuality openlyhas accompanied
thecreationof a specific"gay world,"whichis definedsocially,commer-
Withthesechangeshas come thedevelopment
cially,and politically. ofthe
"gay community" as a recognizedpart of most Western industrialized
societies,in some countriesenjoyinga considerabledegreeof legitimacy
and recognition bythestate.In partthisreflects theideologyof individual
rights and fulfillment-the Jeffersonian "right happiness" applied to
to
In it
sexuality. part,too, grows out of a recognition ofpluralismand cultural
diversity,whichhavebeen important factorsin changingattitudestowards
homosexualityin the Netherlands,Canada, and Australia.These ideas
may be inappropriatein other settings,as Jacksonargues theyare in
Thailand27and as Peter Fry suggestsfor Brazil: "The concept of the
modern homosexual falls on deaf ears in a culturewhere homoerotic
practicesare highlygeneralizedand wheremasculinity and femininty are
regardedas moreimportantthanhomo-or heterosexuality."28
In Brazil and Thailand, and in other (usually richer)parts of the
developingworld,a small elite see themselvesas interconnected witha
global networkvia groups such as the InternationalLesbian and Gay
Associationand an international commercialscene in whichtheypartici-
pate. Others (often from similarclass positions)are more critical:in the
early 1980s StephenMurray and Manuel Arboledanotedthat"Mexican
liberationorganizations eschew the term'gay' because theirleadership
do not considerAnglo gay cultureto be what theyaspire to emulate.
They are also sensitiveabout 'culturalimperialism'fromthenorthand the
elitismof expensivelocal replicasofAnglogaybars."29However,some of
the most virulentof such critiquesare themselvesimportedvia Western
conceptualizations of postcolonialand subalternanalysis.
The existenceof a commercialgayworldcannotbe read as bringing
withit thesame consciousnessin different societies.Is Shinjuku,thearea
in Tokyowiththeheaviestconcentration ofgaybars and shops,reallylike

84 Dennis Altman
the Castroin San Francisco?If not,whereare thedifferences? There is a
constantneed to disentanglecommercialand media imagesfromchanges
in consciousness.The United Statesis so consumer-defined thatthe gay
movementwas quicklyco-optedand turnedintoan interestgroup and a
niche market (with gay resistanceincreasinglyexpressed in aesthetic
terms-queer ratherthan anticapitalist).30 Neitherthe developmentof a
politicalmovementnor its incorporationalong Americanlines is neces-
sarilythe outcomeforothersocieties.
It seems clear thatsomeformof gay and lesbianidentityis becoming
morecommonacrosstheworld.As gayidentitiesincrease,so thenumber
of men havinghomosexual sex may decrease.This is suggestedby one
observerofIndia (despitea lackof distinctionin his piece betweenidentity
and behavior):

thenthatin Indiayourunintobellboysat hotels,menon

Is itanysurprise
theguysin theseatsnextto youin themovies,all of
crowdedlocaltrains,
whomaremorethanadequately infondling
interested yourpenis?Indiahas
no gaymovements and perhapsneverwill.Thereare no gay magazines;
perhapstheydon'tneedthem.Thereareno gaybarsperse; again,perhaps
theyare not necessary .... Beddingsomeone back home was fareasierthan
overhere.31

possiblethatmanypeople in developingcountries,what-
It is certainly
evertheirexposureto Westernmediaimageryand consumeraffluence, will
not adoptWesternsexualidentities, or thattermssuch as gay,lesbian,even
queerwillbe takenup and changedmuch as Englishnames are adoptedin
the bars of Patpongand Shinjuku.Criticshave arguedthat"even" in the
Westmanymenwho have sex withmenbutdo notidentify as gaymaynot
be closeted (imperfect)homosexualsbut may be consciouslyrejectinga
particularidentity.32Yet manynon-Western homosexualsare nonetheless
attractedto a Westernmodel, which they seek, consciouslyor not, to
impose on theirown movements.They are aided by discoursesof human
rightsand themorespecificlanguageofAIDS/HIV (thusrecognitionof a
gay communitybecomes a frequentdemand at most international AIDS
conferences).When such demandsare voicedin thename of representing
Asians or South Americans,is it to be understoodas the oppressed
demandingto be heardor as a new stageof internalized imperialism? And
whatabout thoseofficialvoicesfromcountriessuch as Iran or China who
decryhomosexuality as a resultof"Westerndecadence,"ignoringtherich
homoerotictraditions of theirownprecolonialhistory?

Ruptureor Continuity? 85
 Globalization and Sexual Identities

The images and rhetoricof a newlyassertivegay world spread rapidly

fromtheUnitedStatesand otherWesterncountriesafter1969. American
gay consumerismsoon became thedominantmode forthenew gay style
of the 1970s. Despite a radical gay movementborn in the 1968 student
riots,by the end of that decade an American-derivedcommercialgay
world had grownup in Paris, and the Marais was a recognizablegay
quarteron the model of Castro or the West Village. Looking back on
notesI made on a shortvisitto Brazilin 1979, I findtheyreflectmanyof
the issues I am now strugglingwithin relationto the Philippinesand
Indonesia:the meaningsof apparentmimicryof Westernforms;therole
of class and age divisionsin thegayworld;thesomewhatdifferent public
display of homosexualityin countrieswhere the conventionsof body
contactare somewhatdifferent to thosewe takeforgrantedin theWest.33
In one sense the importationof gay styleand rhetoricis part of the
ongoingdominanceof the so-calledFirstWorld.FilipinowriterVicente
GroyonIII reflectsall the contradictionsand ambivalencesat play when
he writes:

Youarereading thelatestcopyofInterview,
oneofthetrendy fashion-slash-
monthlies
lifestyle thattellyouwhat to what
wear, to talkaboutandhowto
live.Youareundertheimpression thatyoubelongtotheworldthemagazine
describes,and notin thistropical,
underdeveloped,unstablecountry.You
dreamofescapingtothisworldfullofperfect people,with faces
perfect and
perfectlivesand clothes
perfect andperfectbodies.34

The ever-expandingimpact of (post)modern capitalismis clearly

redrawingtraditionalsex/genderordersto matchthe ideologyand con-
sciousnessimposedby huge changesin theeconomy.The impactof eco-
nomicgrowth,consumerism, urbanization,social mobility,
and improving
telecommunications places greatstrainson existingfamilialand personal
relations,and on the veryconceptionsof selfwithwhich people make
sense ofthesearrangements. Discussionsaboutthechangesdemandedby
capitalismtend to fluctuatebetweennostalgiaand celebration:whatone
personsees as an increasein personallibertyanothermaywellread as the
destructionof valuabletraditions.
We cannotdiscussthe developmentof modernformsof sexual iden-
tityindependentof othershifts,whichat firstglancemay not be directly
relevant.In the new urban industrialareas createdby themuch vaunted
economicgrowthof "newlyindustrialized countries,"largepopulationsof
youngpeople, attractedby theprospectof jobs, have probablyweakened
and certainlychanged theirrelationsto theirfamilies.It will become
easierforthemillionsof people attractedto thenew boomtownsof south-

86 Dennis Altman
ernChina to act out gayidentities;as entrepreneurs see profitsto be made
fromcatering to these new identities, the regime'sabilityto maintain
social controlwillbe tested.Equally,ofcourse,therapideconomicgrowth
of China and otherEast Asian economiesis leadingto major shiftsand
expansionin commercialsex work.
In a sense,globalizationis capitalistimperialismwritlarge,and many
of its featurescontinueand perpetuatethe erosionof custom,of existing
kinshipand villages/communities, and of once-privatespace in the inter-
ests of an expandingmarketdominatedby the firmsof the FirstWorld.
What was once accomplishedby gunshipsand conquestis now achieved
via shoppingmalls and cable television.Whetherthisamountsto some-
thingnew or merelyto a speedingup of existingrelationsis a complex
question.RobertC. Connellhas notedthat"Europeanimperialism, global
capitalism under U.S. hegemony,and modern communicationshave
broughtall culturesinto contact,obliteratingmany,and marginalizing
most.Anthropology as a disciplineis in crisisbecause of this."35
One mightdescribethe currentdebates around changingformsof
homosexualityas presentinga choice betweenpoliticaleconomy,which
argues for universalizingtrends,and anthropology,which argues for
culturalspecificities. There are people withstrongemotionaland career
investments in each camp,and whethera Thai or a Colombianarguesthat
modernitydestroysindigenousculturalformsor providesnew space for
sexual freedommaytellus moreabout theirown place in theworldthan
aboutwhatis actuallyhappening.It is obviousthatbotheconomicand cul-
turalforcesare changingsexualregimesand therelationships betweenthe
sex/gender order and other economic and culturalstructures.Whatis less
clearis how such changesenterintothepsyche. Are the luxurious saunas
of Paris and Bangkok,or theemerginggymculturesof Santiagoor Osaka
affecting deeplyheld values,or are theymerelysuperficialshiftsin style?
What seems universal-even somethingas specificas a homosexual
bathhouseor a disco-will be changed and mediatedthroughthe indi-
vidual culture and political economy of each society.As Katie King
argues: "We need to talk of homosexualitiesand thereforeof various
formsof 'gay': When I now talkabout 'global gay formationsand local
homosexualities'I am talkingabout layeringsof maps and territories that
also interact,correct,and deconstructeach other,thatdescribedistinct
and importantsystemsof materialcircumstances."36 But argumentsfor
culturalspecificity can sometimeslead us to forgetthe"systemsofmaterial
circumstances"to whichKing refers.Thus Anne Allisonin her fascinat-
ing book about Tokyohostessclubs arguesthatattemptsto definethings
as "essentiallyJapanese"(and hence notcomparablewithothersocieties)
ignore"politics,economics,historyand class."37
The significant aspectofthecontemporary globalizationof capitalism

Ruptureor Continuity? 87
Affluence, is the growth of affluence in many countries and the corresponding
greater freedom for individual choice it makes possible. Affluence,educa-
education,and tion, and awareness of other possibilities are all prerequisites for the
adoption of new forms of identity,and the spread of these conditions will
awareness of increase the extent to which gay identities develop beyond their base in
liberal Western societies. (They are not, however, sufficientprerequisites,
otherpossibilities
as authoritariangovernmentsin both the Middle East and East Asia have
made clear.) In turn, the development of such identitiesmay well swamp
are all pre-
existinghomosexual/thirdsex cultures, as has been claimed for Indonesia,
requisitesfor Mexico, and India.
Globalization in the form of increased travel and communication
the adoptionof between countries similarlyadds pressure to adapt to hegemonic cultural
forms; while tourism plays an uneven role in the construction of new
new formsof forms of homosexuality, it has clearly been crucial in such areas as the
Caribbean, North Africa, and parts of Asia (e.g., Sri Lanka and Bali).38
and the
identity, Moreover, increasing numbers of people from Third World countries
travelto the West, and this becomes another factorin culturaltransmission.
spreadofthese But globalization is extremely uneven in its effects,simultaneously
reducing and creating all sorts of shiftingcultural and communal ties. As
conditions
will
Virginia Vargas writes of Latin America: "An incomplete and subordinate
increasethe process of modernization has had an ambivalent effect,increasing the
marginalization of wide social, regional and cultural sectors on the one
extentto which hand, while at the same time facilitatingthe integrationand a broadening
of the horizons of those same sectors, giving rise in the past few decades
gay identities to a chorus of voices coming from the latterwho have been traditionally
marginalized fromthe process of political transformation."39 The problem
developbeyond forthese voices is how to avoid speaking a language of outmoded nostalgia,
how to select from the constant influx of new ideas, styles,and technolo-
theirbase in gies those that can be used to improve human life rather than merely
reshape it to fitthe demands of a global market.
liberalWestern
The crucial question is, How do new forms of sexual identityinteract
with the traditional scripts of sex/genderorder? Peter Jackson has argued
societies.
eloquently for a continuum:

While gaynessin Thailand has drawnselectivelyon westernmodels,it has

emergedfroma Thai culturalfoundationas the resultof effortsby Thai
homosexualmen to resolvetensionswithinthe structureof masculinityin
theirsociety.I also maintainthatthepropositionthatgaynessin Thailand is
a "westernborrowing"is misplacedand overlookstheinternalstructuring of
Thai masculinity,fromwhich Thai gay male identityhas emerged as a
largelycontinuousdevelopment.40

I am less convinced that this formulationapplies in other countries, where

there is probably more of a rupture between traditionaland modern forms

88 Dennis Altman
of gay identity.Even in the West developmentsvary fromcountryto
country.VernonRosario claims thatthereis a declinein gay conscious-
ness in Paris and a returnto the conceptof sharedcitizenship.41 I would
argue that this has always existed (summedup in Foucault's well-known
ambivalenceabout "comingout,"an ambivalencethatincludedbothper-
sonal and politicalreservations).42 A tensionbetweenclaiminguniversal
rightsforindividualdiversityand claimingcommunalrightsforspecific
groupsis hardlynew; fewsocietiesare likelyto pursuea politicallycorrect
solutionwiththe same zeal as Americanshave. It is difficult to imagine
affirmative action in hiringlesbian/gayfacultybecoming a realityin
equallyrichsocietiessuch as Kuwaitor Hong Kong.
Thus, a discussionof new or modernhomosexualities needs to incor-
porate the following:
ma sense of thecontinuingimportanceof premodernformsof sexual
organization.This is also (thoughless) applicablein theWest:whatis the
filmPriscilla, Queen of theDesert if not a returnto older notions of homo-
sex/genderfuck/drag as one and the same, a statementthatembracesboth
queer and pre-gayliberationformations?
ma consideration of whetherthemovementtowarda senseof identity/
communityis similaror noticeablydifferent forwomen.To date,several
characteristics(e.g., the lower number of visiblelesbiansand theambiva-
lent relationsbetween gay men and feminist movements in general) are
verysimilarto those of the West,but such similarities may well disguise
largerdifferences. There is no reasonto assumethatthecurrentideology,
whichconstructs a commonhomosexuality as sufficient
to embraceexisting
differencesbetweenwomen and men, will be adopted in non-Western
countries.43
mmoresensitivity to class/castedivides.The romanticmythof homo-
sexualidentity cutting across class,race,and so on doesn'tworkin practice
any more than it does in the West. The experienceof sexualityin everyday
lifeis shapedbysuch variablesas thegap betweencityand country;ethnic
and religiousdifferences; and hierarchiesof wealth,education,and age.
The idea of a gayor lesbian/gay community assumesthatsuch differences
can be subordinated to an overarching senseof sexualidentity, a myththat
is barelysustainablein comparatively richand affluent societies(though,
hardlysurprising,does best in relatively harmonioussettingssuch as the
Netherlands).
mthe persistenceof different familypatternsdespitegrowingafflu-
ence and apparent Westernization.As Shivananda Khan suggested,
"Significantnumbersof gay-identified men are apparentlyrepositories
of culturalhistory,teachersof theirnephewsand nieces in the extended
family,holders of familytraditions,who perhaps continueto live with
their parents and take care of them. . . . The unmarried son/daughter

Ruptureor Continuity? 89
 who may have developed a sexual identity,but places thatrole within
a familystructure."44My interviewswithseveral apparentlyWestern-
ized gay men in Manila have borne out this patternas relevantto the
Philippines,and Stephen Murray argues that it is a centralfactorin
most developingcountries.45
mthecomplicationsof thediaspora.Some homosexualsof Asian ori-
gin livingin theWestseem to make no distinctionbetweentheirsituation
and thatof people back home; thus the introduction to an anthologyof
gayand lesbianSouthAsian writinglinkstogether"an Indianprofessorat
an Ivy League university,
[and] a Pakistanipracticinglaw in Vancouver"
with"a marriedwoman who must see her femaleloversecretlyin New
Delhi [and] . . . an old man who has lived out a lonely life in a rural vil-
lage."46While thisseems to me to blurcrucialdifferences,
it is also true
that some of the most potentgay influencesfromoverseascome from
immigrants, whose experiencesare oftenreflectedback to theiroriginal
homelands.47
mthe interactionsamong developingcountriesthemselves.It is mis-
leadingto assume thatall influencesstemfromtheWest (or theNorthin
a somewhatdifferenttaxonomy).Thus thereareongoingand closecontacts
betweenthe new gay organizationsof SoutheastAsia. Partlybecause of
theresourcesmade availablethroughHIV programs,groupssuch as Pink
Triangle(Malaysia),LibraryFoundation(Manila), KKLGN (Indonesia),
and People Like Us (Singapore) are extremely
awareof and interestedin
each others'activities.Similarnetworkingexistsin EasternEurope and
South America.

Conclusion

The forcesof globalchange(includingHIV/AIDS and thesurveillanceof

and interventionsintohumansexualityithas spawned)meansthathomo-
is
sexuality increasingly This also meansthatsome people
interrogated.48
willbenefitfromimposinga Westernanalyticmodel to explainsexuality;
oftentheywillbe Third Worlderswitha personalor professionalinvest-
ment in modernity.Traditionalistswill respond eitherby denial (often
because of Western-derivedmoralities)or by seekingto builda nationalist
versionof homosexuality, withromanticclaimsto a precolonialheritage
whichis seen as differentiating
themfromWesternhomosexuals.In my
own conversations withhomosexuals in Asia thereis an ongoingambiva-
lence abouttheextentto whichtheyare constituting themselvesas partof
a global identity.As Eduardo Nierrasputs it, "When we say to straight
people, or,morerarely,to Westerngaypeople, 'We are likeyou' we must
rememberto add, 'onlydifferent.'"'49

90 Dennis Altman
 Clearly what is at work is a complex compound of traditionand
modernity, themselvesbetterunderstoodas ideal pointson an academic
continuumthan as descriptionsof fixed realities.Gay identitiesmay
emergein different ways and withoutthe overtlypoliticalrhetoricof the
West.I suspectthatgay separatism,forexample,as expressedin the cre-
ationof "gay ghettos"in majorU.S. cities,is likelyto be less attractive
in
many societies,even where the economic preconditionsfor it seem to
exist.This becomes a testof the globalizationthesis:new identitiesmay
well develop but theirdevelopmentis not predictablethroughWestern
experience.On the otherhand, the differences are not as greatas some-
times claimed (nor should we forgetthatWesterngay life is no more
monolithicthan non-Westerngay life). It is worthrememberingChris
Berry'sunspokencommentwhen a youngChinese man told him: "It is
notpossibleto do whateveryouwantto do in Chineseculture.It's notlike
Australia":

The writerdidn'tmention thathe hadneverfeltableto discusshissexuality

withhis parents.That he knew17-year-oldswhohad committed suicide.
Thathe hadbeentoldthreeoutoffivecallsto theLesbianandGayswitch-
boardwerefrommarried men.Notbecausehe feltEddie'sChinesesituation
was justthesame as otherpeople'sAustralian butbecausehe
situations,
realizedEddie'ssituation
wasEddie'salone.50

The more I see, the more skepticalI am of sharp divides between

Westernand non-Western experiencesof sexuality, and thesurerI become
thatwe cannotdiscuss sex/gender structuresindependentof largersocio-
politicalones. We may well need a politicaleconomyof homosexuality,
one which recognizesthe interrelationships of political,economic, and
culturalstructures.Far fromassuminga linearprogressiontowarda West-
ern-style queerness,thiswould recognizethattheongoingshiftsin sexual
identitieswithinWesternsocietiessee theplayingout of verysimilarten-
sions and factors;ifwe were capable of imaginingThailand or Brazil as
thenormand thenmeasuringSan Franciscoor Sydneyagainstthemour
sense ofwhatis modernand traditional mightbe somewhataltered.Most
people negotiatenumerousmodels of identityin everydaylife,and what
mightseem paradoxicalor contradictory to the observeris no morethan
evidenceof thehumanabilityto constantly reshapehim-or herself.Sex-
uality,likeotherareas of life,is constantly
beingremadebythecollisionof
existingpracticesand mythologies withnew technologiesand ideologies.

Ruptureor Continuity? 91
 Notes

I am gratefulto theAustralianResearchCouncil forsupport,and to a numberof

people whose ideas have helped me shape this paper, among them Eufracio
Abaya, Ben Anderson, Chris Berry,Sandy Gifford,Shivananda Khan, Peter
Jackson,Laurence Leong, Alison Murray,Dede Oetomo, AnthonySmith,and
Michael Tan.

1. There is verylittlerelevantliteratureon theinternationalizationof lesbian

identities.But see AlisonMurray,No Money,No Honey(Singapore:OxfordUni-
versityPress, 1991), and Took Took Thongthiraj,"Toward a Struggleagainst
Invisibility:Love betweenWomen in Thailand," AmerasiaJournal20 (1994):
45-58. My own researchhas largelybeen concernedwithmale gay worldsin
SoutheastAsia, to which I have particularaccess; while I mentionlesbians at
variouspointsit is withoutanyillusionof havingfirsthand knowledge.
2. Christianvan Maltzahn,ed., SpartacusInternational Gay Guide,23d ed.
(Berlin:Bruno Gmunder,1994-95). This is a widelyused listingof all commer-
cial and social/politicalplaces thatcaterto any sortof homosexualclientele.
3. See Barry Adam, The Rise of a Gay and Lesbian Movement(Boston:
Twayne,1987), 142-43; Ian Lumsden, Societyand theStatein Mexico (Toronto:
Canadian Gay Archives,1991); Edward MacRae, "Homosexual Identitiesin
Transitional Brazilian Politics," in The Making of Social Movementsin Latin
America,ed. ArturoEscobar (Boulder,Colo.: Westview,1992); and JoaoTrevisan,
Pervertsin Paradise(London: Gay Men's Press, 1988).
4. See "Anjaree: Towards Lesbian Visibility,"Nation (Bangkok), 25 Sep-
tember1994; PeterMurphy,"MilitancyHits Manila," SydneyStar Observer, 25
August 1994; "Newly Out in Japan,"Los AngelesAdvocate,4 October 1994; and
Reporton EmergingGay Identitiesin SouthAsia: Implications forSexual Health
(London: Naz Project,1995).
5. On the developmentof these communities,see Dennis Altman, The
Homosexualization ofAmerica(Boston: Beacon, 1983); and BarryAdam,Riseofa
Gay and LesbianMovement.
6. See FrederickWhitamand Robin Mahy,Male Homosexuality in FourSoci-
eties(New York:Praeger,1986); and JohnBoswell,Christianity, Social Tolerance,
and Homosexuality (Chicago, Ill.: Universityof Chicago Press, 1980).
7. Rosalind C. Morris, "Three Sexes and Four Sexualities:Redressingthe
Discourses on Gender and Sexualityin ContemporaryThailand,"positions:east
asian cultures critique2 (1994): 39.
8. The termis Gail Rubin's. See her "Trafficin Women,"in Towardsan
Anthropology of Women,ed. Rayna Reiter (New York: MonthlyReview, 1975);
and "ThinkingSex: Notes fora Radical Theory of the Politicsof Sexuality,"in
Pleasureand Danger: ExploringFemaleSexuality,ed. Carole S. Vance (Boston:
Routledge,1984), 267-319. CompareRosemaryPringle,"AbsoluteSex? Unpack-
ing the Sexuality/Gender Relationship,"in ThinkingSex, ed. R. W. Connell and
G. W. Dowsett (Melbourne:MelbourneUniversityPress, 1992), 76-101.
9. Allan Hanson, "The Making of the Maori: Culture Inventionand Its
Logic," AmericanAnthropologist 91 (December 1989): 899.
10. Tobias Schneebaum, WheretheSpiritsDwell (New York:Grove, 1988),
433.
11. Sereine Steakley,"Brazil Can Be Tough and Deadly for Gays," Bay
Windows(Boston), 16 June1994.

92 Dennis Altman
 12. George Chauncey,Gay New York(New York:Basic, 1994), 65.
13. Paul Russell,Sea of Tranquility
(New York:Dutton, 1994), 231.
14. BenedictAnderson,Languageand Power(Ithaca, N.Y.: CornellUniver-
sityPress, 1990), 278.
15. For a ratherunevensurveyof the subjectsee Arno Schmittand Jehoeda
Sofer,Sexualityand Eroticism amongMales in MoslemSocieties(New York:Har-
ringtonPark, 1992).
16. The literatureon Brazil is particularlyrich. See, forexample,Richard
Parker,Bodies, Pleasures,and Passions (Boston: Beacon, 1991); and Rommel
Mendes-Leite, "A Game of Appearances: The 'Ambigusexuality'in Brazilian
Culture of Sexuality,"in Gay StudiesfromtheFrenchCultures,ed. Rommel
Mendes-Leiteand P. O. de Busscher (New York:HarringtonPark, 1993).
17. Shivananda Khan, "The Naz Project (London)," QuarterlyReview
(July-September 1994): 7-8.
18. GilbertHerdt,ed., ThirdSex, ThirdGender(New York:Zone, 1994), 47.
19. Niko Besnier,"PolynesianGenderLiminalitythroughTime and Space,"
in Herdt, ThirdSex, ThirdGender,300.
20. Roger Lancaster, "'That We Should All Turn Queer?' Homosexual
Stigma in the Making of Manhood and the Breaking of Revolution in
Nicaragua," in ConceivingSexuality,ed. JohnGagnon and RichardParker(New
Yorkand London: Routledge,1994), 150.
21. Gayle Rubin withJudithButler,"Sexual Traffic,"differences 6 (summer-
fall 1994): 96.
22. See Dede Oetomo and Bruce Esmond, "Homosexualityin Indonesia,"
Englishversionof a paper publishedin Indonesianin 1990 (privatecommuni-
cation).
23. See PeterJackson,"Kathoey><Gay><Man: Sexualitiesin Asia and the
Pacific,"in SitesofDesire/Economies ofPleasure,ed. Lenore Mandersonand Mar-
garetJolly(Chicago: Universityof Chicago Press,forthcoming 1996).
24. Jackson,"Kathoey><Gay><Man"; Parker,Bodies,Pleasures,and Pas-
sions,95.
25. In conversationwiththeauthor.See Dennis Altman,Homosexual:Oppres-
sionand Liberation, new ed. (New York:New YorkUniversity Press, 1992), 40.
26. "Gay Life in Pakistan:An Assessment,"an unsignedpaper made avail-
able by the PakistanAIDS PreventionSociety.
27. See Jackson,"Kathoey><Gay><Man."
28. Peter Fry, "Why Brazil Is Different,"TimesLiterarySupplement,8
December 1995, 7. But compareRichardParker,"'WithinFour Walls': Brazilian
Sexual Cultureand HIV/AIDS," in H. Daniel and RichardParker,Sexuality,Pol-
itics,and AIDS in Brazil (London: Falmer,1993), esp. 73.
29. Stephen Murray and Manuel Arboleda, "Stigma Transformation and
Reflexication:'Gay' in Latin America,"in Male Homosexuality in Centraland
SouthAmerica,ed. S. Murray(New York:gai saber Monograph#5, 1987), 136.
30. This is the (perhaps overstated)argumentof Donald Morton. See his
"Politics of Queer Theory in the (Post)Modern Moment," Genders17 (fall
1993): 121-50.
31. Kim, "They Aren'tThat PrimitiveBack Home," in A LotusofAnother
Color,ed. Rakesh Ratti(Boston: Alyson,1993), 94.
32. See Michael Bartos, "Communityvs. Population: The Case of Men
Who Have Sex withMen," in AIDS: Foundations fortheFuture,ed. PeterAggle-
ton,PeterDavies, and GrahamHart (London: Taylorand Francis, 1994).

Ruptureor Continuity? 93
 33. See Dennis Altman,"Down Rio Way,"in The Christopher StreetReader,
ed. Michael Denneny, Chuck Orleb, and Tom Steele (New York: Coward
McCann, 1983), 214-19.
34. VicenteGroyonIII, "Boys Who Like Boys," in Ladlad: An Anthology of
PhilippineGay Writing,ed. Neil Garcia and Danton Remoto (Manila: Anvil,
1994), 111.
35. Robert W. Connell, "The Big Picture:Masculinitiesin Recent World
History,"Theoryand Society22 (1993): 601.
36. Katie King, "Local and Global: AIDS Activismand FeministTheory,"
CameraObscura28 (January1992): 82.
37. Anne Allison,Sexuality,Pleasure,and CorporateMasculinityin a Tokyo
HostessClub (Chicago: Universityof Chicago Press, 1994), 80.
38. On gay tourism,see RobertAldrich,The SeductionoftheMediterranean
(London: Routledge, 1993); and Dennis Altman,"Encounters withthe New
World of 'Gay Asia"', in Identities,Ethnicities, Nationalities:Asian and Pacific
Inscriptions,ed. Survendri Perera (Melbourne: Meridien, 1995), 121-38.
39. Virginia Vargas, "Academics and the Feminist Movement in Latin
America,"in Making Connections, ed. Mary Kennedy,CathyLubelska, and Val
Walsh (London: Taylorand Francis,1993), 145.
40. PeterJackson,"Kathoey><Gay><Man."
41. VernonRosario, "Sexual Liberalismand CompulsoryHeterosexuality,"
JournalofContemporary FrenchCivilization16 (1993): 262-79.
42. This pointis discussed in most of the biographiesof Foucault. See, for
example, David Macey, The Lives of Michel Foucault (London: Hutchinson,
1993).
43. For a Westernlesbian view of gay lifein Japanthatdoes not recognize
the possibilitiesof these differencessee Sarah Schulman,My AmericanHistory:
Lesbianand Gay LifeduringtheReagan/BushYears(New York:Routledge,1994),
241-46.
44. Privatecommunication,5 February1995.
45. StephenMurray,"The 'Underdevelopment'of Modern/GayHomosex-
ualityin Mesoamerica,"in ModernHomosexualities, ed. Ken Plummer(London
and New York:Routledge,1992).
46. RakeshRatti,Introductionto A LotusofAnotherColor,11.
47. There is a growingliteratureabout gay and lesbian Asians in Western
countries.For an introduction to the discussionsee Dana Takagi, "Maiden Voy-
age: Excursioninto Sexualityand IdentityPoliticsin Asian America,"Amerasia
Journal20 (1994): 1-18.
48. On the impactof HIV/AIDS on non-Western homosexualitiessee Den-
nis Altman,Powerand Community(London and Philadelphia:Falmer, 1994),
passim.
49. Eduardo Nierras,"This RiskyBusinessof Desire: TheoreticalNotes for
and againstFilipinoGay Male IdentityPolitics,"in Garcia and Remoto,Ladlad:
An Anthologyof PhilippineGay Writing,199. The anthologyfurnishesmany
examplesof thisambivalence.
50. Chris Berry,A Bit on theSide (Sydney:emPress,1994), 64.

94 Dennis Altman