GLQ:A Joumal of Lesbian and Gay Studies IMAGINING GAY IDENTITIES IN CHINA 457 does not exist above and beyond the cultural processes of attaching meaning to places.Far from a deterritorialized phenomenon,it has been discursively pro- duced in various contexts and has taken on specific imaginative appeals of which we might want to be wary.14 This approach to culture and space might help us move beyond invocations of similitude versus difference in our discussions of cosmopolitan gay identities outside the West.It also moves in tandem with approaches that view gayness not as autonomous but as an imaginary site that stabilizes heterosexual identity,a "flamboyant'difference,'"in David M.Halperin's words,that"deflects attention from the contradictions inherent in the construction of heterosexuality."5 To com- prehend sexual identities in places outside the United States,then,entails exam- ining how they articulate with discursive productions of culture and place. In what follows I propose to trace not a singular global gay identity but a social process of discrepant transcultural practices.My analysis emphasizes artic- ulation,between Chinese gay men's desires for cultural belonging in China and transcultural gay identifications,in which these men nonetheless continuously dis- cern and imagine differences compelled by China's colonial and socialist political histories with other nations.16 Transcultural practices resist interpretation in terms of either global impact or self-explanatory indigenous evolution.Instead,they open inquiry into contingent processes and performative evocations that do not presume equivalence but ask after confrontations charged with claims to power. Cultural Citizenship To be sure,what it means to be gay in 1990s China is nothing if not about crossing cultural and national borders.Yet to understand the transcultural nature of gay life in China,we must begin with the simple question that Altman never asks:what motivates women and men in China to seek out,with some urgency,what it means to be gay in other places?What has allowed gayness to emerge more visibly in China that cannot be reduced to the presumably inexorable power of global flows of images and ideas?And what do Chinese gay men do with the representations of gayness that they receive or seek from foreigners? The answers lie in the realm of cultural citizenship.In postsocialist China culture has replaced politics as the site on which citizenship is meaningfully defined,sought,and conferred or denied.By cultural citizenship I mean to high- light how citizenship,or belonging,is not merely a political attribute but also a process in which culture becomes a relevant category of affinity.It is a process of self-making and of being made,of active modes of affinity as well as techniques of Published by Duke University PressIMAGINING GAY IDENTITIES IN CHINA 457 does not exist above and beyond the cultural processes of attaching meaning to places. Far from a deterritorialized phenomenon, it has been discursively pro￾duced in various contexts and has taken on specific imaginative appeals of which we might want to be wary.14 This approach to culture and space might help us move beyond invocations of similitude versus difference in our discussions of cosmopolitan gay identities outside the West. It also moves in tandem with approaches that view gayness not as autonomous but as an imaginary site that stabilizes heterosexual identity, a “flamboyant ‘difference,’ ” in David M. Halperin’s words, that “deflects attention from the contradictions inherent in the construction of heterosexuality.”ls To com￾prehend sexual identities in places outside the United States, then, entails exam￾ining how they articulate with discursive productions of culture and place. In what follows I propose to trace not a singular global gay identity but a social process of discrepant transcultural practices. My analysis emphasizes artic￾ulation, between Chinese gay men’s desires for cultural belonging in China and transcultural gay identifications, in which these men nonetheless continuously dis￾cern and imagine differences compelled by China’s colonial and socialist political histories with other nations. l6 Transcultural practices resist interpretation in terms of either global impact or self-explanatory indigenous evolution. Instead, they open inquiry into contingent processes and performative evocations that do not presume equivalence but ask after confrontations charged with claims to power. Cultural Citizenship To be sure, what it means to be gay in 1990s China is nothing if not about crossing cultural and national borders. Yet to understand the transcultural nature of gay life in China, we must begin with the simple question that Altman never asks: what motivates women and men in China to seek out, with some urgency, what it means to be gay in other places? What has allowed gayness to emerge more visibly in China that cannot be reduced to the presumably inexorable power of global flows of images and ideas? And what do Chinese gay men do with the representations of gayness that they receive or seek from foreigners? The answers lie in the realm of cultural citizenship. In postsocialist China culture has replaced politics as the site on which citizenship is meaningfully defined, sought, and conferred or denied. By culturd citizenship I mean to high￾light how citizenship, or belonging, is not merely a political attribute but also a process in which culture becomes a relevant category of affinity. It is a process of self-making and of being made, of active modes of affinity as well as techniques of GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies Published by Duke University Press