Xiaomingxiong is the pen name of Wu XiaoMing, also known as Samshasha, is a veteran Hong Konggay right activist and one of the first authors to study the history of homosexuality in China.
Biography
Xiaomingxiong was born in 1954 in Hong Kong to Chinese parents emigrated from the mainland. His father owned a wood cutting factory but went bankrupt during the second world war when the Japanese occupied Hong Kong. Xiaomingxiong finished high school at the age of sixteen and went to the United States for university education in 1971. His arrival at Louisiana and later Austin, Texas coincided with the advance of the Sexual Revolution throughout the Western world. It was there that he met fellow students who self-labeled themselves as gay and came across the first wave of gay liberation writings. After graduation, Xiaomingxiong briefly returned to Hong Kong but went to rural New York in 1976 to pursue graduate study in geology. His attention was, however, quickly diverted to the vibrant post-Stonewall New York City. In the year that followed, he explored first hand various aspects of the new urban gay lifestyle, interviewing first generations of gay bookshop owners, gay parents, homosexuals from different races, etc. In June 1979, Xiaomingxiong travelled to the White House as part of a delegate for gay rights, representing Asian Americans. There, he met with a secretary of Jimmy Carter and raised concerns regarding the United States immigration procedures. At the end of 1979, Xiaomingxiong returned to British colonial Hong Kong, where homosexual acts were still illegal and punishable by life imprisonment. He was quick to discover the one and only local underground gay bar at the time, the Dateline, through the then editor of the City Magazine. There, he met a wealthy Chinese merchant, who agreed to finance Xiaomingxiong for his first gay liberation Chinese publication, "A Chinese Gay's Manifesto". This was followed by the underground newsletter "Pink Triangle" and the book "Twenty-five Questions about Homosexuality". The public's reactions also earned Xiaomingxiong a column space in the City Magazine, allowing him to openly disseminate information and advice on homosexuality. After more than five years of preparations, the comprehensive "The History of Homosexuality in China" was published in 1984 just before the announcement of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
