Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing, a 1970s pop star from Hong Kong, pioneered queer visibility long before it was part of mainstream pop culture. As Hong Kong navigated its uncertain future, Cheung quietly defied conventions of masculinity, becoming the city’s brightest star and a cultural contradiction—elegant, emotional, and unrestrained.
Unlike male contemporaries, Cheung leaned into vulnerability in his Cantopop music, singing about heartbreak with raw intimacy. On stage, he embraced silk, eyeliner, and theatrical movements, embodying freedom rather than just femininity. Though he never explicitly labeled himself a queer icon, he had relationships with both men women, he presented as nonbinary, and his art embraced a queer aesthetic.
He was beloved by millions, earning the nickname “Gor Gor” (Big Brother), symbolizing a blend of strength and tenderness. Cheung’s acting career mirrored his musical defiance. His performance in Farewell My Concubine (1993), where he played a Peking Opera performer trained as a woman, was a haunting exploration of gender and desire that cemented his legacy. In the mid-1990s, he openly appeared with his boyfriend, Daffy Tong. In a quiet, revolutionary act in 1997, he dedicated a love song to Tong during a sold-out concert.
His 1996 album Red and subsequent stage shows, featuring Jean Paul Gaultier gowns and kissing male dancers, further blurred gender lines, serving as “oxygen” for queer fans across Asia despite conservative backlash. Cheung stated, “Art must come from honesty,” and lived by that principle until his death by suicide in 2003, following a struggle with depression. Two decades later, his influence endures, with younger artists citing him as proof that queerness and artistry are inseparable. He showed that in a world not ready for him, to be seen was the most radical act of survival.
