Introduction: Have ‘Families of Choice’ Arrived in China?

This book examines the dynamic understandings and practices of same-sex intimacies, queer parenting, and queer family making in urban Guangdong, China. What does it mean for Chinese non-heterosexual people to go against existing state regulations and societal norms to form a desirable and legible queer family? Based on yearlong ethnographic fieldwork, this book explores the various tactics queer people employ to have children and to form queer or ‘rainbow’ families. It unpacks people’s experiences of cultivating, or losing, kinship relations through their negotiation with biological relatives, cultural conventions, and state legislations. It argues that non-heterosexual people’s tactics of forming and sustaining mutuality/jiban in their loving and parenting relationships both reproduce and transgress assumptions about ‘blood and biology’ and its centrality in the knowledge of kinship, in that way also blurring the symbolic distinctiveness of blood kin and queer relations. Through its analysis, the book offers a new ethnographic perspective for queer studies and the anthropology of kinship. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Guangdong, China, this book asks: what does it mean for Chinese non-heterosexual people to go against existing state regulations and societal norms to form a desirable and legible queer family? Chapters explore the various tactics queer people employ to have children and to form queer or ‘rainbow’ families. The book unpacks people’s experiences of cultivating, or losing, kinship relations through their negotiation with biological relatives, cultural conventions and state legislations. Through its analysis, the book offers a new ethnographic perspective for queer studies and anthropology of kinship. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Guangdong, China, this book explores the various tactics queer people employ to have children and to form queer or ‘rainbow’ families. It unpacks people’s experiences of cultivating, or losing, kinship relations through their negotiation with biological relatives, cultural conventions and state legislations. The introductory chapter sets the stage by presenting the socio-cultural and legal backdrop against which queer intimate relationships and familial life unfold in Chinese society. In general, Chinese state policies and the patrilineal kinship system create a challenging environment for alternative life choices and non-conventional family structures. Consequently, Chinese non-heterosexual individuals are rarely seen as capable of establishing enduring relationships or forming families without having to forgo their queer identities. This results in queer parents remaining largely invisible to the public eye, with limited social research conducted on their practices. This chapter outlines the theoretical framework and the primary arguments that underpin the book. Drawing on new kinship studies and queer theory, as well as insights from prior queer ethnography, this work seeks to contribute to fresh insights into Chinese queer life, assisted reproduction, and kinship.