A SPOTLIGHT severs the dense cigarette smoke, bathing the solitary singer on stage. All eyes are fixated on the petite well-toned figure, scantily clad in spray-on denim hotpants and sexy backless halterneck. The rendition of Anita Mui Yim-fong's Dream Partner is faultless. With closed eyes, the thick husky voice could almost be 'big sister' herself. The accompanying gestures are pure Anita; the confident hand on hip, the flourishing wrist movements, the signature raised-eyebrow stares. Afterwards, the audience breaks into rapturous applause augmented with much whooping and wolf whistles. With a coy curtsey, and an 'oh, stop it' gesture of the hand, Simon jumps off the karaoke podium and skips back to his beefy, tight T-shirted companions.
Anita Mui is a gay icon and her songs rank among the most requested at the Why Not karaoke bar in Causeway Bay. The decor is dingy - Formica tables, folding chairs, foam-filled sofas - but the club boasts an impressive clientele of famous fashion designers, soap opera stars and Canto-pop singers. Early on, a steady stream of performers line up to sing straining Canto ballads of the I-love-you-oh-why-don't-you-love-me genre. By midnight, the tempo increases considerably as the bar gets busier and the more extravagant 'Cinderellas'' take to the stage to play their particular icon.
Gary Wong, a celebrity make-up artist and member of the Why Not club, is an avid Anita aficionado. 'I love her because she's so extravagant and she looks a bit draggy,' he says. 'She's suffered so much in life and then fed this pain into her lyrics. Her boyfriends dump her. She's hurt by one man then fooled by another. Gay men can really relate to this.'' Suffering is a common connection between gay icons. Gay men and women who feel they have suffered in society by hiding their homosexuality, or who have experienced bigotry by being open about it, relate to stars who have publicly shown pain. Songs such as Why Wasn't I Born A Woman?'by Grasshopper are sung with convincing anguish at Why Not. Two Women, a duet sung in both parts by Deanie Yip Duk-han, known locally as Hong Kong's Bette Midler, is another popular role-play rendition. Gay men take it in turns to play the 'mistress''and 'wife' battling over their philanderer.
Battling with the stigma of swimming against the tide in Hong Kong's conformist society, many gays admire celebrities who dare to be different. They feel inspired by stars who have become successful despite, or as a result of, their individuality. Pixie-faced Sandy Lam Yik-lin is one of Hong Kong's most popular gay icons. Half of her concert audience consists of gay men, the other half young girls. Her gay fans say they admire her artistically for being different from most mainstream Canto-pop crooners.
'All gays like Sandy,' confirms Chan Wai-sing, a secondary school teacher. 'She's very different from popular commercial stars like Sally Yeoh. Her image and singing style are special. She sings bluesy, sad stuff which gay guys can relate to. Gays are generally very emotional.' Sandy Lam, like Faye Wong (said to be replacing veteran Lam as the gay icon for a new generation), is an artist whose individuality appeals to both gay men and lesbians. 'I think Sandy Lam's a popular lesbian icon because she's mysterious,' says Charmaine Leung, a design lecturer at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. 'People are curious about her sexuality. She's never denied that she was gay. Personally I like her because her character is very humble and reserved. Unlike the regular Canto-pop bimbo, Sandy gives the impression of being well-educated.'' While in the West identifiable icons are sometimes openly gay celebrities like Canadian singer kd lang, the trait is rarer in Hong Kong where homosexuality is still relatively taboo. Even heterosexual local stars rarely dare share their sexual status with the public. Those that play for the other team do their utmost to hide it.
Ironically, sexual ambiguity is often enough for a star to be granted gay icon status. 1930s' actresses Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich, both popular gay icons, were only rumoured or recently acknowledged to have harboured lesbian tendencies. Madonna is a prime example of a celebrity who has maximised her icon potential by dabbling in lipstick lesbianism. In her infamous coffee table compendium, Sex, which tottered on the tightrope between soft porn and photographic art, Madonna posed in highly provocative positions with Naomi Campbell (who briefly became a lesbian icon herself).
'I hated Madonna as 'Material Girl' but, God, I really loved her in her Blonde Ambition tour,' says Leung. 'She was sooo bitchy! Those aggressive JPG [Jean Paul Gaultier] cone-bras. She was feminine but so muscly at the same time. I love that.''Rumours of Madonna's relationship with actress Sandra Bernhard further increased her iconic appeal. Her androgynous strike-a-pose Vogue-ing antics, adopted from the distinctive dance style which originated in New York's gay clubs, ensured she also became an icon amongst gay men.
Closer to home, rumours about the sexual preferences of Canto-pop star Aaron Kwok Fu-sing have gained him gay icon status. Like Madonna, he seems to have deliberately cultivated his image to attract not only teenage girls but also gay men. His extravagant concert costumes, pretty boy pouts and Take That-esque dance routines could easily be interpreted as being at the very least camp, at most homo-erotic. Kwok wouldn't comment as to whether he was purposefully pursuing the pink as well as the pubescent dollar, but he doesn't seem to object to gay adoration. 'Men or women - they're still people,' he says via his promotions manager.
'Their opinion of me is just as good. I can't control who likes me, but I do hope people like me because I'm hard working and a talented singer and dancer - not because of my looks.' Playing a gay character can also elevate an actor to iconic heights. Antonio Banderas and Keanu Reeves' realistic portrayals of gay men in Philadelphia and My Own Private Idaho respectively, secured their places on the bedroom walls of many a gay man. Interestingly Tom Hanks, who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of a gay AIDS victim in Philadelphia isn't an icon locally, despite his tearfully camp oration at the Oscars. Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing who played a gay Chinese opera singer and opium addict in Farewell My Concubine, is also a local icon, no doubt fuelled by media speculation about his sexuality.
No matter how subtle the role play is, homosexuals will manage to make a iconic link. Supermodel Cindy Crawford became a brief lesbian icon merely by shaving kd lang's imaginary beard on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine. 'I do think it's slightly desperate,' agrees Leung. 'I think it's because there are so few public figures that we can relate to in everyday life. Gay people will often latch on to anyone we can look up to.'' According to Chan, merely looking gay, if such an aesthete exists, can warrant gay idolising. The pretty, slightly androgynous looks of actors Johnny Depp, Leonardo Dicaprio and Keanu Reeves make them appealing to gay men. 'Certain stars, like Leslie Cheung, have a gay look about them,' explains Chan. 'Their softer, sensitive side is easy for us to distinguish.'' At the same time, the beefcake look appeals to other gays. Icons Leon Lai Ming, Andy Lau Duk-wah and Fong Cheung-shun are taller and more muscular than the average Chinese man. Eurasian actor Michael Wong Man-duk, currently starring in First Option as Hong Kong's answer to Rambo, is the latest favourite. 'He's very typical of the kind of man gays fancy,' says Gary Wong. 'American stars like Wong or Greg Louganis, that gay Olympic diver, are really popular.
They're more masculine, hairier, cleverer. Potato queens [Chinese gay men who like Western men] really like Michael Wong. It's ironic, because he's actually homophobic.' (For those unfamiliar with current gay vernacular, rice queens are Western homosexuals who like Chinese men and snow queens are black gay men who like white men.) It's an accusation to which the actor takes offence. 'I'm not homophobic,' says Michael Wong. 'I'd like to think that I don't harbour any prejudice against any kind of person unless they're doing something bad or physically offensive. I have friends who I believe are gay. It makes no difference to me. I've actually played a gay character in a Cantonese comedy. I never saw it but I think gay people thought I was cute. That may have sparked this icon business.' Along with looks, clothing plays a part in attracting gay interest. According to Gary Wong, clothes are used by gay men to symbolise their sexuality. 'It lets other gay men know you're gay,' he says. 'Like in the United States where gay men used to put handkerchiefs in their back pocket. That tactic is not used here, but gay men are image conscious - they know how to dress. Gay men like fashion, so consequently stars like Danny Chan Pak-keung are icons because they dress well. Danny was one of the first people in Hong Kong to wear Giorgio Armani and Montana, before they were even fashionable!' Chan's drawn-out death in 1993 from brain-stem failure, preceded by 17 months in a coma, also added to his iconic status. Somewhat morbidly, celebrities who have died dramatically or at a young age often go on to become iconised in gay culture. The appeal of Judy Garland, James Dean and especially River Phoenix, who played Keanu Reeves' gay partner in My Own Private Idaho, has increased since their deaths.
Leading a melodramatic life usually guarantees your status as a gay icon, but dressing melodramatically can sometimes work just as well. The extravagant clothes of Anita Mui, Chaka Khan and Shirley Bassey appeals to the drag queen constituency. These are women who dress how gay men would like to dress but can't; women who proclaim about men in the way that gay men would like to but can't.
There is usually more to lesbian icons than a pretty face and a fashionable wardrobe. Lesbians tend to idolise strong, independent and sometimes aggressive characters. These women need not necessarily be gay or depicted as lesbians, but can clearly survive on their own. Hollywood has provided lesbian icons in the shape of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford - neither of whom was defined by their relationships with men - and, more recently, Jodie Foster and Sigourney Weaver, who have both portrayed heroic figures in an industry which usually reduces women to attractive accessories.
'The key thing linking lesbian icons is that they can't depend on men,' says Leung. 'That's why we admire them. Dykes really like Jodie Foster because she's strong and independent in all her films. She's not beautiful but there's something really attractive about her. She was such a strong woman in The Accused. I liked Sigourney Weaver in Aliens. All of sudden she got so muscly! And Linda - oh, what's her name - Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2. Wahhhhhhhh! I really like her, she's not pretty but very striking.' Unlike in the West, 'butch' and 'femme' roles in local lesbian relationships are clearly defined. Strangely, butch partnering with butch would be seen by Hong Kong lesbians rather in the same way heterosexuals view homosexuals. Role play goes on in a similar way to straight relationships, even the mannerisms of local butch lesbians mimic those of Chinese men. Not only do they walk, spit and smoke like men, but they can be as sexist and misogynistic as some Hong Kong men. Therefore butch lesbians iconise women who are very feminine, like long-haired actress Ng Ka-lai, who wears short dresses and lashings of make-up.
However, their feminine preference is limited to looks only. 'I really, really, really like Shirley Kwan Suk-yee!' says Leung. 'She's got real attitude. She's feminine but strong and independent at the same time. Sandra Ng Kwun-yu is also very popular because she's a lesbian. She's very open-minded and liberal. She used to be very fat but she used her will power to lose a lot of weight. She once said if you can't even control your body, how can you control your life? Isn't that great?'' Of the celebrities questioned about how they felt about being gay icons, all proved, intentionally or otherwise, safely PC in their reactions. 'I welcome anyone's good feelings towards me whether they're gay or straight, rich or poor - gay fans make me just as happy,' says Shirley Kwan via her promotional manager. She denied that she actively encouraged gay adoration. 'I don't deliberately encourage gay people as I hope to appeal to everyone. I wouldn't discourage it either because any fans are still better than none!' 'Anyone who likes me makes me very happy,' says Ng Ka-lai. 'Lesbians aren't special people. I have lesbian friends. They're normal so it makes no difference to me whether a fan is gay or not - I still really appreciate their attention.' Whether her iconic status casts aspersions on her own sexuality is not an issue Ng gives much thought to. 'I'm very comfortable with being a gay icon. I wouldn't discourage them. I think the public can clearly distinguish who's gay and who's not.' In the West it is not only easier to have an icon, but also find one. Gays and lesbians have become a regular fixture in films (Four Weddings And A Funeral, Priscilla Queen Of The Desert, My Own Private Idaho, My Beautiful Launderette, The Birdcage), television sit-coms (Friends) and soap operas (Santa Barbara, Dynasty).
But while gay visibility on Western screens is now commonplace, Hong Kong lags behind. 'There are hardly any gay characters on Hong Kong television, except perhaps in comedies,' says Wong. 'Mind you, that's better than none. And better than before when gay images were always negative. They used to call us crazy men who played with children.'' Chan agrees that Hong Kong producers intensify the effeminate, sensitive stereotype. 'Hong Kong televisions and films are just rubbish. They're not realistic. The Wedding Banquet is one of the few Asian films that seems like real life. Hong Kong films treat gay culture as comedy or even horror. It wasn't that long ago when homosexuality was seen as a disease and programmes would have happy endings where gay people were 'cured'! Straight people write these scripts to please the mass market.' Gay visibility in Hong Kong films is at the same stage Hollywood was at 10, even 20 years ago. So, in the same way that Hong Kong has gradually become more health conscious, environmentally friendly and politically correct, positive gay representation on local screens may also increase. Hong Kong's current gay icons are everyone's icons so straight is possibly not as straight as it used to be.
Irony is no longer a preserve of gay culture - today the hickest of Homantin housewives can appreciate camp. As the spectre of AIDS increases gay visibility in the mass media, gay will continue to go mainstream. It would be naive to think its role was only to rid prejudice and homophobia, although this will inevitably be a consequence. In Hong Kong, gay culture is more likely to become acceptable because its disposable income makes it a desirable demographic. Gay sells and in this town mammon is what matters.
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