Homosexual life Tungjih magazines few, far between By Kyle Hung |
Kyle Hung![]() |
Contact is the only locally published gay magazine, according to the magazine’s publisher, Rob Jones. The circulation of Contact is 5,000 copies. It is available in gay bars, clubs, some second-floor book stores and Tower Records. Contents include local news and homosexuals’ life stories. Running a tungjih magazine is not an easy job. Mr. Jones explained that few advertisers and investors made it difficult to increase the circulation. Another publication, The Satsanga Newsletter, has taken a low key approach to public education on homosexual rights. The publication is operated by The Satsanga, a non-profit organisation. The newsletter depends on donations, according to Mr. Albert Luk, senior executive of the organisation. The content of The Satsanga Newsletter is a bit serious. It includes interviews with legislative councillors, investigation of ordinances that involve tungjih rights, activities and other general information about tungjih. Moreover, the publication does not accept advertisements from businesses such as saunas in order to reflect the newsletter’s serious content. “As the media distort tungjihs’ image, we have the mission to educate the public by providing tungjihs’ whole real picture,” Mr. Luk said. Angelina Chin, an activist in the tungjih, complained that media present a false image of homosexual life. She said, “Mainstream media label tungjih as abnormal and queer, and seldom let tungjihs’ voices reach the public. As a result, the public do not know what tungjih actually is. “I hope to see more tungjihs’ voices expressed so that different classes or groups of tungjihs can be united.” Published quarterly, The Satsanga Newsletter, with a circulation of 3,000, is publicly distributed for free at the Legislative Council Building, government departments, universities, second-floor book stores and Film Buff boutique. Film Buff, in Broadway Cinematheque, mainly sells posters, postcards, movie souvenirs, and tungjih magazines. Mr. Quercus Cho, cultural service manager of Film Buff, said, “Selling tungjih magazines realises the purpose of Film Buff — communicating all walks of life.” Mr. Cho said it is unfair to gays that few publications cater to them. “Lesbians can find plenty of magazines of nude women. But nude men’s magazines are rare,” he said. |