positions positions 18:2 Fall 2010 432 Scene One It was a spring evening in 1998.Ah Zhuang had agreed to introduce me to someone he said was a money boy.19 I had first met Ah Zhuang through other foreign lesbians and gay men living in Beijing.Then in his early for- ties,Ah Zhuang was a radiologist.Ah Zhuang considered himself to be someone who had always known he was gay.He had never married,as have so many other gay men,but lived at home taking care of his mother.He also considered himself to be part of a long-lost line of aristocratic Mongo- lians,through his father's ancestors.Ah Zhuang had embraced the newly emergent gay scene with unabashed enthusiasm.Though many older men who have sex with other men shunned that scene and,given their histori- cal experiences of harassment,feared exposure,Ah Zhuang,in contrast, worked on the gay hotline,attended all the salon discussions,met with psy- chiatrists to argue with them about the normality of homosexuality,and established himself as an "elder"among what were mostly young gay men in their twenties.He loved dispensing advice.Ah Zhuang felt it was critical for all people who have a homoerotic orientation to identify themselves as gay and embrace that identity.His experience of having been arrested in the 198os for approaching another man for sex in the public bathrooms made him all the more adamant that normalizing a gay identity would put an end to the police harassment to which he had been subjected.20 On the other hand,he felt equally vehement about the need to not expose one's family to social condemnation and thus he felt it important to be discreet. Ah Zhuang had decided ideas about what constitutes a proper gay iden- tity.These ideas were made most apparent to me on the evening in question. That night,Ah Zhuang arrived at my room with a young man named Ah Pei.Ah Zhuang introduced him as his former boyfriend.I was immediately confused.I thought he had said he would introduce me to a money boy. And if this person was his former boyfriend,was he telling me he had been involved with a money boy?As the conversation developed,things turned out to be more complex.For Ah Pei and Ah Zhuang argued during the entire evening about whether Ah Pei was indeed a money boy at all.Ah Zhuang stayed for the whole conversation,in part because Ah Pei has a very thick Beijing working-class accent and I sometimes found it hard to follow Published by Duke University Presspositions 18:2 Fall 2010 432 Scene One It was a spring evening in 1998. Ah Zhuang had agreed to introduce me to someone he said was a money boy.19 I had first met Ah Zhuang through other foreign lesbians and gay men living in Beijing. Then in his early for￾ties, Ah Zhuang was a radiologist. Ah Zhuang considered himself to be someone who had always known he was gay. He had never married, as have so many other gay men, but lived at home taking care of his mother. He also considered himself to be part of a long-lost line of aristocratic Mongo￾lians, through his father’s ancestors. Ah Zhuang had embraced the newly emergent gay scene with unabashed enthusiasm. Though many older men who have sex with other men shunned that scene and, given their histori￾cal experiences of harassment, feared exposure, Ah Zhuang, in contrast, worked on the gay hotline, attended all the salon discussions, met with psy￾chiatrists to argue with them about the normality of homosexuality, and established himself as an “elder” among what were mostly young gay men in their twenties. He loved dispensing advice. Ah Zhuang felt it was critical for all people who have a homoerotic orientation to identify themselves as gay and embrace that identity. His experience of having been arrested in the 1980s for approaching another man for sex in the public bathrooms made him all the more adamant that normalizing a gay identity would put an end to the police harassment to which he had been subjected.20 On the other hand, he felt equally vehement about the need to not expose one’s family to social condemnation and thus he felt it important to be discreet. Ah Zhuang had decided ideas about what constitutes a proper gay iden￾tity. These ideas were made most apparent to me on the evening in question. That night, Ah Zhuang arrived at my room with a young man named Ah Pei. Ah Zhuang introduced him as his former boyfriend. I was immediately confused. I thought he had said he would introduce me to a money boy. And if this person was his former boyfriend, was he telling me he had been involved with a money boy? As the conversation developed, things turned out to be more complex. For Ah Pei and Ah Zhuang argued during the entire evening about whether Ah Pei was indeed a money boy at all. Ah Zhuang stayed for the whole conversation, in part because Ah Pei has a very thick Beijing working-class accent and I sometimes found it hard to follow positions Published by Duke University Press