Chugui (coming out) in China

Find out more about the winning 2024 project 'Chugui (coming out) in China: Experiences and consequences for homosexuals in the context of the family and parenthood' from the Louis Dumont Fund, which supports research in social anthropology.

This thesis project explores the experiences of Chinese homosexuals in the process of ‘coming out’ (chugui), focusing on the social and familial consequences. The study examines how this process affects kinship relations, particularly in a context where patrilineality and the pressure to procreate in order to perpetuate the lineage are central to Chinese society. The ‘chugui’ is more often focused on revealing sexuality to parents than to the public sphere, and represents a risk of severing family and economic ties.

The research will focus on the evolution of kinship norms in urban China, mainly in Shanghai and Hangzhou, where modernisation has allowed a certain flexibility. A key aspect of the study is the role of mothers in this process, often mediating between the homosexual child and family expectations. The project will also look at the strategies employed by families and individuals to reconcile homosexuality and family obligations, such as sham marriages and surrogate motherhood.

By analysing the ‘chugui’, the study aims to understand the dynamics between traditional Chinese values and new influences, as well as the possible transformations of family structures in an urban context in contemporary China.