Interview wh Author of Out Gay Star Llie Chng's Bgraphy — Kergan Edwards-Stout

Contents:

• LLIE CHNG: ASIA'S GAY IN LIV ON 15 YEARS AFTER HIS ATH
• HAPPY TOGETHER: THE NOT-SO-HAPPY TALE OF TWO GAY CHE LOVERS
• INTERVIEW WH AUTHOR OF OUT GAY STAR LLIE CHNG'S BGRAPHY
• KISAH CTA EPIK LLIE CHNG DAN DAFFY TONG: BERAKHIR DENGAN KEMATIAN TRAGIS SANG IKON GAY
• CROWDS FLOCK TO HONG KONG FOR 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF CANTO-POP STAR AND GAY IN LLIE CHNG’S ATH
• LLIE CHNG, 46, POP SGER AND FILM ACTOR GAY ROL

LLIE CHNG: ASIA'S GAY IN LIV ON 15 YEARS AFTER HIS ATH

Image ptn, Llie Chng was one of the most popular male sgers and actors of the mid-1980sFor the past 15 years fans of tormented superstar Llie Chng, one of the first celebri to e out as gay Asia, have gathered at Hong Kong's Mandar Oriental Hotel to mourn the day he took his own life.

"He showed the [Che-speakg] world that gay people n be posive, bright and worthy of rpect. It was not an easy time to be gay.

At that time, homosexualy was still viewed by many as an illns and abnormaly Hong Kong, pecially after the emergence of the first lol se of Aids 1984. It was not until 1991 that adult gay sex was crimalised the terrory. "The LGBT movement Hong Kong took off the 1990s, when the muny fally beme visible to the public, " Travis Kong, an associate profsor of soclogy rearchg gay culture at The Universy of Hong Kong, told BBC Che.

HAPPY TOGETHER: THE NOT-SO-HAPPY TALE OF TWO GAY CHE LOVERS

He went on to star Happy Together directed by Wong Kar Wai - a gay cema classic about a uple who stggle to fd a peaceful -existence. Chng did not proclaim his sexualy as such, but nfsed his love for a source, Rock RerdsImage ptn, Chng wore his inic pair of red high heels a 1997 ncert"In the 1990s, at tim a gay man was still lled 'Aids man' and 'pervert', " says Mr Kong. At the time, reporters wonred if this would be the great director’s statement on the historic transn but stead, he ma a film about doomed gay love Argenta, sayg “I thought that the bt way to avoid answerg the qutn was to go make a movie abroad.

“[They] were both pneer pop artists, who had a powerful fluence on the Eastern and Wtern gay muni the same perd of time, ” Liu says. Courty of The Crern CollectnFor Liu, Chng spired Asia’s gay muny jt by existg. “And beg accepted by his fans—due to his unique charisma and artistic achievements—he really showed that gay people n be themselv a betiful way… He was a signifint figure to me and to my gay circle of iends.

Later, he would say that he was so prsed om the vrl around this tour that he would never perform openly-gay Kwan tells the followg story to illtrate Hong Kong’s views on queer work by queer artists the early ‘00s: “When [Kwan’s 2001 queer film] Lan Yu me out theatrilly Hong Kong, the box-office wasn’t very good, ” he says. Homosexualy was only crimalised Cha 1997, and wasn’t until 2001 that was classified as a mental disorr. Adult gay sex was crimalised Hong Kong 1991.

INTERVIEW WH AUTHOR OF OUT GAY STAR LLIE CHNG'S BGRAPHY

But Travis Kong, an associate profsor of soclogy rearchg gay culture at the Universy of Hong Kong, told BBC Che 2018 that queer men were still beg lled “AIDS man” and “pervert” the 1990s. He was the very first Hong Kong (and Che, and probably Asian) star who officially me out ( a Time magaze terview), not to mentn he had always been flamboyant on stage and acted many pathbreakg gay movi. I don't know if I n thk of a better gay film than Happy Together...

KISAH CTA EPIK LLIE CHNG DAN DAFFY TONG: BERAKHIR DENGAN KEMATIAN TRAGIS SANG IKON GAY

My llege roommate was om Hong Kong and troduced me to many Che is Tony gay too? I tend to thk that they have an open relatnship, and wouldn't surprise me (or, I believe, most of his fans) if Tony is a latent homosexual. Zhang's ex-wife, Lü Lipg, is an outright homophobic, largely bee of Zhang's on a si note, Tony is gog to be Marvel's Anonymoreply 37June 23, 2020 6:48 AM.

I have never thought of Tony as a gay man.

CROWDS FLOCK TO HONG KONG FOR 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF CANTO-POP STAR AND GAY IN LLIE CHNG’S ATH

Maybe bi but not Chng is the only gay actor who was so nvcg both straight and gay rol. Starrg the legendary Llie Chng and the equally legendary Tony Lng, Happy Together is the turbulent story of two young gay men om Hong Kong who make their way to Argenta and endure the many hardships their relatnship plac ont of them. Had the relatnship that played out this film actually been a real gay relatnship at that time, seems like a plsible endg.

Perhaps bee ’s set a different untry, the film don’t really pict or document any kd of stggle wh homophobia – not om the society around them, or om wh the characters themselv. A film and mic superstar his homeland of Hong Kong and throughout Asia, Llie Chng broke barriers as an out gay man, fdg ternatnal succs actg such films as Farewell My Concube and Happy Together. As I disvered more about him, I me to see the story as a classic tragedy--a gay man brave enough to be himself the brash entertament world of this cy, felled om a uniquely proment posn by a ndn beyond his ntrol.

Collett: Llie and Danny were brought together by a gay star of an earlier generatn, the highly flamboyant Roman Tam. They were both gay, both unattached, and though they weren’t each other’s typ, they were lookg for fun. He uld be really r and loud, too; some of his early numbers were more like wtern sixti rock than anythg of the time, but he got them dancg the aisl at all his showsEdwards-Stout: While ially, his early days of stardom, Chng publicly dated women, you tail his life as a gay man.

LLIE CHNG, 46, POP SGER AND FILM ACTOR GAY ROL

Eventually, he me out as openly gay, which is rare for any celebry, let alone his cultural environment. But what led to his strength livg as an openly gay star?