The Men of Viet Nam: A Travel Guide to Gay Viet Nam

Rich Johnson
The information presented in these pages comes from numerous visits to Viet Nam by Douglas Thompson and from the nurturing of lasting and valued relationships that were formed during these visits. In part, it is because of his Vietnamese friends that he has written this informative guide -- so that others may enjoy and cherish Viet Nam's people and culture as Douglas has. He has tempted the reader with a colorful narrative of Vietnamese culture and what the country has to offer visiting guests. Interwoven with this is a description of the developing gay scene as it exists today. He has provided valuable insight into some of the intricacies of the culture and offers suggestions on how one can better understand and share memorable experiences with new friends. Thanks to this wonderful guide, we all can learn how we can best enjoy our visit before stepping on Vietnamese soil. But take the guide with you and refer to it often. The tips of conduct and for finding those great restaurants and hard-to-find late-night cafs are invaluable.

Book Description
This first-ever guidebook to gay Viet Nam covers the history, culture of this Southeast Asian nation and the gay scene. Includes listings of gay and gay-frequented venues in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and beyond.

Language Notes
Text: English, Vietnamese

From the Publisher
This book is part of our culturally sensitive and responsible The Men of (tm) guidebooks in the tradition of the acclaimed The Men of Thailand.

From the Author
The author's royalties from sales of this book support grassroots AIDS prevention for gay men in Vietnam.

About the Author
American-born Douglas Thompson has been living out of a suitcase most of his life. He first visited Saigon in 1973 and was unceremoniously thrown out of the country at gunpoint because of his subversive antiwar activities at home. After practically all of his friends died from AIDS in the 1980s, he began devoting most of his time to AIDS work. God spoke to him in a Thai brothel in 1995, and he has focused his AIDS work on Southeast Asia ever since. This is either his eighth or ninth (he's not sure) book. Although Thompson occasionally resents having squandered a perfectly fabulous education on a career as a writer, he sincerely hopes that everyone who reads this book will come to enjoy and respect Vietnam and her people as much as he does.

Excerpted from The Men of Viet Nam: A Travel Guide to Gay Viet Nam by Douglas Thompson. Copyright © 1998. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
VIET NAM'S GAY SCENE Vietnamese culture is full of behavior and customs which outsiders often mistakenly interpret as homoerotic. Vietnamese concepts of what men are allowed to do and still remain ''manly'' or ''masculine.'' are vastly different from the Judeo-Christian West. Touching and physical displays of affection are not subject to the same ridiculous taboos as elsewhere. Vietnamese men often hold hands, hug and hold each other, and even kiss each other on the cheek without casting any doubts on their sexual orientation. Most gay men who visit here find it refreshing-although sometimes downright confusing-to see men behave so naturally with each other. Nine times out of ten, however, these physical expressions of friendship between males have absolutely nothing to do with sexual preference. As a result, many tourists are forced to confront all their own concepts of what gay behavior really is. For many foreigners, the confusion caused by public affection is compounded by physical beauty and apparent innocence of most Vietnamese, and their eagerness to have contact with foreigners. Many Vietnamese men in their late twenties still look quite young, so it is no surprise that foreigners who prefer Asian men find Vietnamese among the world's most attractive. And when a young man approaches you in public with a huge smile and bravely attempts his grammar school English, you cannot help but be enchanted. But this is not Greenwich Village, Castro Street, or Kings Cross, and the beautiful young man is not coming on to you. All his friendliness probably has little to do with sex. . . . . . . THE PROSPECTS FOR "GAY LIBERATION" IN VIET NAM To many outsiders, it is refreshing to see Vietnam's version of gayness integrated into society and culture. It is not necessarily such a bad thing that there are no gay districts, or newspapers or other manifestations of homosexual ghettoization disguised as ''liberation'' here. For the most part, people here quietly enjoy life and mind their own business. Nevertheless, discrimination, harassment and social pressure against homosexuals exist in Viet Nam, just as they exist in practically every other part of the world. Family pressure to marry can be relentless. Openly gay people can be rejected by their families and become social outcasts. Since they are sometimes perceived as weak, homosexuals are occasionally subjected to verbal and even physical abuse. The word ''gay'' has already begun to leak into the vocabularies of younger urban Vietnamese who have learned it as a derogatory term from Viet Kieu. While Viet Nam will always be remembered for its dramatic social changes, a gay uprising on the order of Stonewall will probably never happen in this country. Yet the place of homosexual and bisexual men in Vietnamese society will continue to change along with everything else, and there are strong indications that times and attitudes are changing slowly and quietly. During Vietnam's period of economic isolation following the American war, one government physician described homosexuality as a ''fashion'' imported from the decadent West. Since there were ''no homosexuals at all in Viet Nam,'' he concluded that anyone behaved like one was probably faking it. Barely ten years later, with more than one hundred well-wishers in attendance, two men were married in a ceremony in a Ho Chi Minh City restaurant. Vietnam's first gay wedding did not escape the notice of the police, who chose not to interfere because no laws were being broken. While some describe this official attitude as ambivalent, hardened regime-watchers look upon it as a new sign of openness. Finally, we are beginning to see the first generation of Vietnamese men who clearly identify themselves as gay and who contemplate a gay lifestyle that vaguely follows the Western model. These are young men who are creating a sense of community by sharing ideas and experiences. In some cases, they have abandoned plans to start traditional families and have even formed domestic partnership with other men. While there have undoubtedly been homosexuals in Viet Nam for a long, long time, self-identified gay Vietnamese men are becoming somewhat more visible and are breaking with the time-honored practice of a wife and children, with a secret beau on the side. The ''new'' gays are also taking care of their own. HCMC's Nguyin Friendship Society, a loosely organized group of about fifty young gay men and women, offers peer counseling, discussion groups and AIDS prevention. You can read more about this group and its work in Chapter Eight.


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