Assessing the Tongzhi Label: Self-Identification and Public Opinion

Journal of Homosexuality, Vol. 64, No. 4, 509–522, 2017

UNC Legal Studies Research Paper

15 Pages Posted: 14 Sep 2017

See all articles by Holning Lau

Holning Lau

University of North Carolina School of Law

Geoffrey Yeung

Faculty of Law, University of Oxford

Rebecca Stotzer

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Charles Lau

RTI International

Kelley Loper

University of Denver Sturm College of Law; University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law

Date Written: May 18, 2016

Abstract

Tongzhi is one of several Chinese terms that refer to individuals who are attracted to the same sex. Using data from two different surveys in Hong Kong, this research note examines how the term tongzhi coexists with other terms. We investigate the prevalence of self-identification as tongzhi, and we explore the extent to which using the term tongzhi influences public attitudes toward gay people and gay rights. Activists began popularizing the term tongzhi in the late 1980s, but less than one third of the participants in our 2008 survey of sexual orientation minorities (n=728) described themselves as tongzhi. Using a split-ballot experiment in a 2013 public opinion poll (n=831), we found that attitudes toward gay people and gay rights were not significantly impacted by whether questions were phrased in terms of tongzhi or the main alternative term tongxinglianzhe. We discuss how our findings can enrich understandings of earlier research and illuminate avenues for future study.

The Version of Record of this manuscript has been published and is freely available in Journal of Homosexuality, 18 May 2016.

Note: The Version of Record of this manuscript has been published and is freely available in Journal of Homosexuality, 18 May 2016, DOI/10.1080/00918369.2016.1191241

Keywords: tongzhi, gay, identity, LGBT

Suggested Citation

Lau, Holning and Yeung, Geoffrey and Stotzer, Rebecca and Lau, Charles and Loper, Kelley, Assessing the Tongzhi Label: Self-Identification and Public Opinion (May 18, 2016). Journal of Homosexuality, Vol. 64, No. 4, 509–522, 2017, UNC Legal Studies Research Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3030703 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3030703

Holning Lau (Contact Author)

University of North Carolina School of Law ( email )

Van Hecke-Wettach Hall, 160 Ridge Road
CB #3380
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3380
United States
919-962-8514 (Phone)

Geoffrey Yeung

Faculty of Law, University of Oxford ( email )

Oxford
United Kingdom

Rebecca Stotzer

University of Hawaii at Manoa ( email )

2500 Campus Road
Honolulu, HI NA 96822
United States

Charles Lau

RTI International ( email )

PO Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, 27709
United States

Kelley Loper

University of Denver Sturm College of Law ( email )

2255 E. Evans Avenue
Denver, CO 80208
United States

University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law ( email )

Boalt Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
United States

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