Oct 29, 2017 | 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM | Studio Theatre

Desmond O'Doherty, MA

A Critical Analysis of the Construction of Tongzhi Identity in Hong Kong

This presentation aims to illustrate the construction of tongzhi identity tracing its development from buggery to sexual citizenship and the effects the tongzhi movement had on the development of gay and lesbian rights, community building, and identity building in Hong Kong. Through examining three distinct waves (1980s, 1990s, and 2000s) within which the formation of tongzhi identity occurs, this research adopts a Foucauldian perspective of sexuality and an anthropological perspective of nationalism to analyze how the identity of sexual minorities in Hong Kong have been marginalized, problematized, and regulated by three areas of governance, namely, the Colonial Hong Kong government, the traditional Chinese concept of family, and religion (specifically evangelical activism). The concept of ‘sexual citizenship’ is employed to highlight and analyze the campaign for activity-based rights, identity-based rights, and relationship-based rights on behalf of the tongzhi movement in its quest to decriminalize homosexual activity, develop a tongzhi community, and acquire the status of citizen in Hong Kong, as well as the legal and social rights, benefits, and protection that come with it. The formation of tongzhi identity in Hong Kong has been directly influenced by the political, social, and legal battles fought by tongzhi movement in its quest for gay and lesbian rights, equality, and anti-discrimination laws and legislation.

Jenna O'Connor, MA

Fascist Pathologizations: How Medical Practices in Concentration Camps on Gay Men Affect Queer Individuals in Contemp. America

Synthesizing data from memoirs and sociohistorical data collected from concentration camps in Nazi, Germany, I hope to analyze how the pathologization of gay men under fascist regimes institutionalized a form of clinical practice of how to “moralize” the queer individual through unethical medicalization experiments, practices, and eventual death. Arguably, if we can begin to understand the systematically instituted fierce hatred for gay men on behalf of the Nazis during World War II, we could, perhaps, begin to understand the influence Nazi medicalization practices enacted and instituted upon the queer individual and how these practices are resurging in our contemporary American society post-2016 election. As evidenced through the popularization of what is commonly known as “conversion therapy,” we can examine its history within American society, and further explore this essentialist, dehumanizing, unethical practice’s decrease in popularity during the 70-90s which finally leads us to address conversion therapy’s rising presence in our current Trump era. How exactly has psychology and the medical industry pathologized the queer individual? What discourses are present in both fields attempt to “moralize” the queer individual? Finally, how are queer individuals criminalized, pathologized, and dehumanized under fascism? These are just a few of the questions I hope to address in my paper, as the rising popularity of “queer conversion therapy” is flourishing in our current political climate, and echoes of fascism ripple throughout our society.