This research intends to shed light on how a small group of post-80s lalas* in Beijing – the les+ group – attempted to construct a collective lala identity as well as public space through their cultural production of magazine Les+ and other open activities in recent five years. Their attempts were facilitated by the increased individualization among the young generation. Under the state's unceasing control of any form of public space and regulation of the homosexual group, les+ adopted a politically non-confrontational strategy through cultural production. The cultural resources Les+ utilized consisted mostly of those from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Western societies rather than traditional Chinese cultural resources. It resulted in the lala identity as a highly individualized and open p...[ Read more ]

This research intends to shed light on how a small group of post-80s lalas* in Beijing – the les+ group – attempted to construct a collective lala identity as well as public space through their cultural production of magazine Les+ and other open activities in recent five years. Their attempts were facilitated by the increased individualization among the young generation. Under the state's unceasing control of any form of public space and regulation of the homosexual group, les+ adopted a politically non-confrontational strategy through cultural production. The cultural resources Les+ utilized consisted mostly of those from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Western societies rather than traditional Chinese cultural resources. It resulted in the lala identity as a highly individualized and open project with the basic values of equality and diversity. It also produced Les+’s de-centralized discursive space and organizational structure, which held the promise for the cultural democracy of Chinese individualism of the young generation of lala. However the lala identity les+ produced was basically a modern, urban discursive identity; its effects were restricted to agents with particular life experiences of certain age categories and social statuses. Besides, the rupture between the private and public spaces inherent in lala identity politics made Les+'s identity articulation still a contested one and resulted in the difficulty for its members to re-embed their lala identity into their private lives of intimate relationships and families.

* "Lala" is the appellation used by self-identified Chinese lesbians.