CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
I first met Huang Ping (pictured above) in the Night Cat. It was November 2006, and I was in Changsha, in the Chinese province of Hunan, photographing the underground cabaretcumgay disco for a project on youth culture. In the bars windowless employee dorm room -- little more than a shoddy gesture of goodwill from its owner -- rusting bunk beds were cluttered with belongings and the motionless shapes of young bodies curled under thin blankets. Huang Ping, a transvestite and the self-professed house mom and caregiver of the bunch, was sweeping the room, intermittently stopping to apply makeup or fix his hair. The cigarette butts he pushed across the room wedged themselves between the splintering floorboards. Like sweeping sand in a desert, I thought.
A low-key oasis for gays and lesbians to meet and relax in an otherwise rough city known chiefly as the onetime home of Mao Zedong, the Night Cat was at the core of Changshas invisible gay scene. Located above a used-electronics market in an old theater, its wide stage and wrought iron balcony betrayed a former glory, such that one could imagine the traditional operas and patriotic plays of another generation being performed there. Outside, a giant poster of Halle Berry as Catwoman directed guests past the stolen cell-phone dealers and up to the bar where teenage La-La (lesbian) girls and dance boys would be waiting with menus. There were always more employees than customers at the Night Cat, a common sight in China, where labor is cheap and competition fierce.
When the Night Cat finally closed its doors in March 2007, Huang Ping was the last to leave. A sister had told him of a bar with openings near Shanghai, so he would pack up and move again, one bus ride away from a new bar and a new life.
But by February 2008, Huang Ping was back in Changsha and reborn as a man. Dressed in boyish clothes and sporting short, spiked hair, he had returned to work as a male dancer at Moon Bar, the only gay bar left in the city. It had no need for another transvestite, so Huang Ping cut his hair and started acting like a boy in order to get a job.
Nobody recognizes me anymore! he laughed as he showed me around his new digs. An air of pluck hung about him that I hadnt seen before, almost as if he had been playing the role of submissive woman and that now as a man he had been emboldened in some way.
Send a letter to the editor about this article.
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
38 Male Celebs Who Did Full Frontal Scenes
November 17 2023 5:18 PM
These are all the celebrities Who came out as LGBTQ+ in 2023
December 31 2023 12:19 PM
These Pics Prove Maluma Has Always Been a Certified Daddy
October 20 2023 1:13 PM
32 LGBTQ+ Celebs You Can Follow on OnlyFans
October 25 2023 3:15 PM
26 actors who showed bare ass in movies & TV shows
February 28 2024 1:50 PM
16 Times Celebrity Men Had to Say They Weren't Gay
February 29 2024 1:19 PM
15 Unforgettable Gay Kissing Scenes From TV & Movies
February 14 2024 10:20 AM
13 Queens Who Quit or Retired From Drag After 'RuPaul's Drag Race'
November 24 2023 10:11 AM
40 steamy celebrity Calvin Klein ads we'll always be thirsty for
January 04 2024 10:54 AM
The 15 Best LGBTQ+ Movies of 2023
December 04 2023 10:32 AM
Watch Now: Advocate Channel
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Latest Stories
Meet the reality TV baddies competing on 'House of Villains' season 2
March 27 2024 3:48 PM
Meet Kristen Kish, the new out host of 'Top Chef'
March 27 2024 3:36 PM
24 albums that turn 10 years old in 2024
March 27 2024 2:43 PM
Breaking boundaries in gender-free fashion with Stuzo Clothing
March 27 2024 2:15 PM
Meet Phillip Davis, Johnny Sibilly's new BF who he just hard-launched
March 27 2024 12:49 PM
Meet Ricky & Cesar, 'Amazing Race 36's loveable gay underdog couple
March 27 2024 12:09 PM
March 27, 2024
March 27 2024 12:07 PM
Yvonne & Melissa weren't 'U-Haul lesbians' before 'Amazing Race 36'
March 27 2024 11:38 AM
Iconic comedy 'John Tucker Must Die' is getting a sequel, making Millennial gays very happy
March 27 2024 10:50 AM
'Barbie' star Hari Nef is starring in a biopic about this trans legend
March 26 2024 7:02 PM