Finding the Center

In my early pursuits I went to Gay.com to search for events, community, anything. My results were a list of hotels (??) and the LGBT center, which had no address and no review. You can imagine my delight when Sarah mentioned causally that she was going to the LGBT center the next day. Needless to say, I’ve quit my day job and am now working full-time at the center.

Ok, that’s a stretch, but I can’t pretend that thought didn’t cross my mind as soon as I walked through the door. The center is essentially an apartment that someone rented out for this awesome purpose. I was happy enough just being surrounded by rainbows and grabbing all of the cards/pamphlets/magazines that were translated into English.

The event was centered around the idea of queer identity. We watched a short documentary filmed at an LGBTQIQ (ugh) camp in France. The film was mostly interviews of people answering, “What is your identity?” and “What does ‘queer’ mean to you?” It was so interesting to see what people use to qualify themselves, or the hesitations/freedoms that keep them from doing so. Afterwards the British woman who made the documentary explained the film and the evolution of the term queer…in Chinese with no translation.

Then we played “How queer are you?” The way it works is, everyone is given a poky, (a sweet-coated breadstick candy), and you are told to take a bite when something applies to you. Questions ranged from “I identify as a lesbian” to “I am a gay man who has slept with straight women.” People who identified with the statement had to take a bite. It was basically the non-drinking version of “Never have I ever” for queers.

Overall, I really loved the community feeling from the small apartment. It was a treat to meet real Chinese lesbians, too. One girl told another girl that I was talking to that she “had a crush on me.” Oh sweet, little, leather-jacket wearing baby-dykes. When I told her I had a girlfriend, she asked, “Is she a t or a p?” I knew what this means, it’s the Chinese version of dyke-femme. I said neither, and she asked, “But, you know, is she masculine or feminist?”

I mustered all the cultural etiquette I have to sidestep that one.

I may be leaving P and T here, but I am TOTALLY bringing the term lala (the term for Lesbians) to the NY girl scene. Get ready for Lala Night, ladies!