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[DOC] A Queer Disco in Saigon


To follow up on the various snippets from scv about Saigon's
queer nite life, here's an interesting excerpt from a recent
(7/96 ?) article in the Vietnamese-language weekly Tho+`i
Ba'o [The Times] published in Toronto.  The article as a
whole is about the disco nite life of Saigon, and here's 
the "eye-rolling" section about a gay club and its young
clientele.  For the benefit of the non-Vietnamese readers,
I'm attaching an English translation of mine own.

Vinh Nguyen

------------------------------------------------------------
.....

The^' nhu+ng co' le~ vo+'i nhu+~ng ngu+o+`i bi`nh thu+o+`ng, 
sa`n nha?y S.S. ddu? su+'c la`m ho. tro+.n tro`n ma('t bo+?i 
dda^y la` mo^.t "tu. ddie^?m" cu?a ha`ng tra(m gu+o+ng ma(.t 
ddo^`ng ti'nh a'i nam mo^~i dde^m.  Giu+~a nhu+~ng ddie^.u 
nha.c pop-rock o^`n a`o, sa`n nha?y la(.ng ddi va` to^'i 
nhu+ mu+.c khoa?ng nu+?a gio+` vo+'i ddie^.u slow.  Khi 
dde`n ba^.t sa'ng, tre^n "pit" chi? co' khoa?ng sa'u ba?y 
ca(.p la` trai ga'i.  Co`n la.i, toa`n nhu+~ng ca(.p nam-
nam, trong ddo' co' "cha`ng" ma(.c va'y, ddo^.n ngu+.c.  
Ho. la`m gi` trong khoa?ng tho+`i gian "dden" a^'y?  Mo^.t 
ba.n trai khoa?ng 18 tuo^?i ddang qua`ng vai mo^.t "co^ 
vo+." ddo^`ng gio+'i, nhu'n vai ddie^.u nghe^.:

- Thi` ho. la`m ta^'t ca? nhu+~ng gi` ma` hai ke? ddang 
ye^u pha?i la`m!

DDe^m cuo^'i tua^`n vu+`a qua, no+i na`y dda~ la`m lie^n 
tu.c hai sua^'t - dde^'n 4 gio+` sa'ng ho^m sau mo+'i ddu? 
tho?a ma~n lu+o+.ng kha'ch ti`m dde^'n.
.....

(tri'ch "Ca^u La.c Bo^. Disco," Tho+`i Ba'o [Toronto],
7/1996 (?))


And yet, perhaps for normal people, the dance club S.S. 
is enough to make them roll their eyes, for this is a 
"gathering spot" for hundreds of male homosexuals every 
night.  Amidst loud pop-rock tunes, the dance floor turned 
quiet and pitch-dark for about half an hour with a slow 
tune.  When the lights came back up, there were but six or 
seven male-female couples on the "piste" [Fr.: dance floor].  
As for the rest, they were all male-male couples, including 
"guys" in skirts, with fake breats.  What were they doing 
during that "dark" time?  A young man of about 18 who was 
wrapping his arm over the shoulder of a same-sex "wife", 
shrugged his shoulders smoothly:

- Well, they were doing all that two people in love have 
to do!

Last weekend, this place put on two continuous shifts - 
until 4 A.M. the following morning - to accomodate the 
number of customers who were seeking it out.

(excerpted from "Disco Clubs," The Times [Toronto],
7/96 (?))



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