This week on Sinica, I'm delighted to welcome — my brother! Jay Kuo is a Broadway writer & producer, and the man behind the terrific U.S. politics-focused Substack newsletter The Status Kuo. In a previous life, from 1996 to 200
0, he was also really active in Beijing's gay community, just at the time when homosexuality was being decriminalized and was stepping out of the shadows. We talk about how it all took off. Jay also puts on his other hat to talk about how China figures into American politics with the election less than five months away, and about the legal standing of the TikTok divest-or-ban law.
4:54 – The gay community in Beijing in the ‘90s, and the Half-and-Half bar in Sanlitun
16:06 – How the gay community in Beijing changed after two major rulings
27:33 – The end of the “golden era” for the gay community in China
36:26 – Progress and its drivers and obstacles
42:28 – Jay’s “China priors”
50:41 – The issue of China in the upcoming U.S. presidential election
57:08 – The TikTok ban bill
Recommendations:
Jay: The TV series Manhunt (2024), available on Apple TV
Kaiser: The TV series The Sympathizer (2024), available on HBO; the audiobook of The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, narrated by François Chau
Jay Kuo on Beijing's Gay 90s