Mr. Beauty’ Revealed: A Glimpse Into Mongolian Gay Life

Written by Brandt Miller

Thursday, December 04, 2008.

ON NOVEMBER 15, an intentionally hidden and exclusive party was held at Amazon Club, in Bayazurkh Palace.  Gay men, lesbian women, bisexual and transgender individuals (LGBT), and friends of these minorities, congregated to socialize with one another and to celebrate their sexual identities.  The main festivity was the annual “Mr. Beauty’ contest.  With a pool of eleven male-to-female cross-dressers, judges determined who made the most beautiful woman through a sequence of swimsuit, gown, and talent competitions.       ‘Mr. Beauty’ is one theme in a series of monthly parties for the LGBT community of Mongolia.  The event is hosted by two organizations focusing on gay male health issues: Youth for Health and Together. There are two additional LGBT organizations in Ulaanbaatar, We are Family and Support Group, whcih attract their own participants, adding to an unnecessary rift in the already marginalized community.       Youth for Health focuses on the health and emotional well-being of gay men through educational workshops, a support hotline, live counseling, and creating a safe-haven for sexual minorities.  The organization receives funding from the National AIDS Foundation, Global Fund, and Mongolian Red Cross Society, and works in close conjunction with Together, another community-based organization that provides HIV/AIDS/STD testing and counseling.       The project manager of Youth for Health believes “it is difficult for gays in Mongolia because they are not accepted by the public, and so they don’t accept themselves.”  The organization’s aim is to “start with the individual, to make people feel they are not alone, and to develop outreach that will educate about gay life and prevent risky behaviors.”      The organization has 544 registered members, which is not indicative of the total LGBT population of Mongolia.  Though it is commonly estimated that anywhere between 2-7% of any population is non-heterosexual,   it is difficult to prove this figure because sexuality is to some degree a cultural construction, and the statistic includes the majority of participants in homosexual activities who do not define themselves as such.      Ideas on varying sexual preferences have taken years to become recognized in many industrialized nations, and with globalization sweeping across the planet, the LGBT definitions have taken root all over the world.  An LGBT scene therefore only exists in Ulaanbaatar, where global influence is most pervasive.  According to a member of Youth for Health, “UB is filled with gossip, and everyone is connected somehow. Most gays are not open to their families, and cannot be open in the public. Many people are scared to get involved with anything that could give them away, even the monthly party.”      The party’s secret location (which changes each month and is not released until a few days before the event) and the strict security guards, were not enough to maintain LGBT privacy in the insular capital.  One week after ‘Mr. Beauty’, a post on a Mongolian website revealed the existence of the party, and disclosed names of attendees. Few positive, and many negative comments were posted in response.      One reaction read: “How disgusting! They should isolate these perverts from the society. If there are 500 open homos in this small population, there might be many more. Forget about talking about them!”  The post represents prejudiced attitudes toward the self-defined homosexual, but does not address gay acts, which are historically part of Mongolian monastic and prison life.  These situational occurrences have been ignored because they are considered circumstances that do not result in  self-definition.         Members of Youth for Health were startled by the posts, but figured the majority of Ulaanbaatar would still be unaware of the event.  Two weeks after the party however, three Mongolian newspapers printed stories about ‘Mr. Beauty’, which included sensationalistic gossip, and photographs of the pageant’s competitors taken with a hidden camera.   One member commented: “It is very scary for those boys whose photographs were taken. We hope that the darkness, the poor quality of the pictures, and the wigs and dresses will make it so people can’t recognize them.”  According to the leader of the organization, the articles were filled with misinformation, bigotry and stereotypes. “They said that there were 500 attendants, but there were only about 200.  The language was derogatory toward gays and said that there were five or six foreigners that looked like homos having a wild time.”      Public disclosure of ‘Mr. Beauty’ creates a new hurdle, one that may prevent individuals from attending the necessary unifying event. Although names and photographs from the party may slip past Ulaanbaatar’s public radar, the reality of being ‘recognized’ and revealed is a fate that could result in verbal abuse and physical assault.  Most cases of homophobic violence occur between family members.     The turbulent environment for LGBT individuals makes it difficult to be open in Mongolia, and the scarcity of open individuals is slowing the progression toward acceptance.  One gay man in Ulaanbaatar said, “homosexuality is becoming more understood with young people studying abroad and all the foreign exposure.  But with more visibility, there is always more violence.”     Like many nations, Mongolia is struggling with new identities that clash with traditional ideals of gender and sexuality.  However, all is not lost for openly gay Mongolian individuals. As one anonymous source believes, “It will take brave people, help from outsiders, and perhaps a few generations, but things are moving in the right direction.”