Hybrid Queer Spaces: Chinese Queer Males’ Negotiations of Surveillance through Digital Platform in Chengdu, China

In the context of hegemonic heteronormativity in Chinese society, public spaces regulate gender and sexual expressions, often marginalizing non-heterosexual and gender non-binary identities. Heterosexual norms render queer experiences invisible and suppressed in public spaces. However, the rise of digital platforms - from web-based media to locative and multi-platform applications - has reshaped how individuals engage with both physical and digital spaces, especially in urban settings. Scholarship concerning hybrid queer spaces continues to flourish in Western contexts. In China, however, there is a notable paucity of knowledge regarding how queer individuals in non-first-tier Chinese cities utilize digital technologies to participate in, practice, and produce urban queer spaces. Addressing this gap, this paper presents the self-reported experiences of 45 adult Chinese queer males living in Chengdu, China.

Through biographical interviews, respondents reminisced about strategies for participating in, operating, and producing hybrid queer spaces under the social surveillance in the digital era. They illustrate how digital platforms act as social infrastructures that mediate access to invisible physical queer spaces while also creating social networks that transcend geographical constraints. The findings show that hybrid queer spaces in Chengdu are sustained through the interaction of multiple platforms, rather than being confined to any singular social media. Moreover, these platforms (Blued, WeChat, Douyin) have become digital marketing avenues for physical queer spaces, drawing in queer individuals for events, thereby achieving profit-making and volunteer recruitment to sustain the basic operations of queer spaces.

This research provides fresh insights into how digital technologies mediate social interactions, identity formation, and spatial production within marginalized communities. The paper calls for future research, particularly in the fields of digital society, to move beyond functional studies of singular queer digital platform and focus on how queer individuals utilize these digital platform - their methods, outcomes, and limitations.