“Marriage fraud” or social constraint? Reasons for understanding tongzhi and tongqi in mixed‐orientation marriages in China

Abstract

This qualitative study was conducted in the context of ongoing debates on “marriage fraud” to explore the underlying social structural and individual reasons for entering mixed‐orientation marriages affecting men who have sex with men (tongzhi in Chinese) and non‐complicit women (tongqi) who married tongzhi in China. Using a phenomenological approach, sixty‐eight (34 tongzhi and 34 tongqi, unpaired) semi‐structured interviews were conducted through in‐person interviews or WeChat audio interviews between 2018 and 2019 in China. Guided by thematic analysis, three themes explaining the shared pressure from the societal, family, and individual levels that drove individuals' decisions about whom they partnered with, and when and how they entered marriage among tongzhi and tongqi: marriage normativity, filial piety, and conformity with conventional marriage. The findings showed that marital decisions for tongzhi and tongqi were constrained by the similar social power of marriage normativity, filial piety, and heteronormativity in China. Some marriages fell within the scope of marriage fraud, but most of them fell within the scope of performing conventional marriages. This phenomenon was beyond simple explanations of marriage fraud. Future studies need to investigate multi‐level constraints concerning family relations for sexual minorities in China on a large scale.