The Strange Sexuality of the Priestly Class in Vietnam
Before I get started, I really want to make it clear, I am not trying to talk about politics here. I bring up the subject of sexual orientation in this article. I find this phenomenon interesting as it clearly shows the difference in cultures between East Asian and Western points of view. I think there is something to learn here as Western societies struggle with these issues. If the topic of sexuality offends you, this one might be an article to skip. I do try to keep it G to PG rated.
When I went to the temple about a week ago, I found it very interesting that many of the male liturgy singers were wearing bright red lipstick. They stood out as priests because they were wearing the uniform of simple and drab color; brown, light blue and grey outfits which you often see monks or religious Buddhists wear to the pagodas. When I am talking lipstick, I mean that classic Hollywood bright red 1940’s and 50’s glamor lipstick, not the muted shades in every hue imaginable, which sometimes seem to be popular today.
It turns out that this was part of the religious ceremony of eating Betel nut. If you don’t know, the betel nut, or the areca nut, is used with the betel leaf and a bit of powdered lime (as in cement, not the citrus fruit), is an important symbol of love in marriage and often are used ceremonially in Vietnamese weddings. Betel nut is known to be a mild stimulant which in small doses, can create a sense of euphoria and alertness. It is processed through the body by the lime stimulating the salivary glands, causing them to produce excess saliva to break down the betel nut into a liquid. This betel quid is chewed upon and absorbed into the body via the bloodstream.
The bright red liquid is spit out causing anything to come into contact with it to take on the hue of this bright crimson die. The betel nut if often symbolic of divinity, but it is really a bit more, as I read this article from the Borneo Post (short summary below, thanks ChatGPT for summarizing):
Users experience initial unpleasant sensations, but long-term use leads to characteristic red staining of the mouth. Chewing induces sensations of well-being, euphoria, and increased alertness. Personal experiences include warming sensations, intoxication, dizziness, nausea, and redness of the mouth. The taste is described as tangy, sour, or bitter-sweet. Chewing produces a grainy mash, red tongue, and lips, followed by brief drunkenness and sweating, ending with an invigorating effect similar to drinking strong coffee.
There seems to be a euphoric effect mixed with an increased alertness. Maybe this gives the practitioners the endurance for the all day ceremony which can often last from 10-12 hours of constant chanting and service to the god of the temple.
I took a quick (and bad quality) cellphone video of the liturgy from outside the temple because it would have been very disrespectful to take photo’s inside.
Learning about the red betel nut hued lips was only the beginning of a very interesting discussion. I found out that all of the men chanting the liturgy and serving as priests were actually gay. This seems to be a thing all over Southern Vietnam and possibly into other parts of Vietnam where gay men typically serve as priests. There seems to be a spirituality about them where they walk between the two worlds of male and female sexuality which maybe gives them a higher level of spiritual awareness in service to the god.
Homosexuality among the priests isn’t new. From talking to the villagers, it is clear this has been going on longer than anyone can remember. Even the oldest villagers I talked to said this was a practice since they were kids. This isn’t just in this small temple, but other temples go all out with their priests where many may dress in beautiful women’s Áo dài and wear lavish amounts of women’s make up to completely take on the female persona. At the temple I visited, the priests spend the day chanting and chewing betel nut until the female god of this island finally possesses the lead priest and speaks through him to the community. The god instructs the villagers if they have been good or not, what their fortunes may be for the coming year, or anything else gods may want to pass along to their worshipers.
In Vietnam, they are called bê đê, which comes from the French derogatory word pédé, but the derogatory nature of the word has mostly been forgotten. Bê đê is a cute little word. I am not sure if it is intentional or not, but first part of the word bê borrows from a word which means baby and the second part rhyming giving it a very melodic type of sound. It could still be used derogatory, but most people don’t and only use it as a simple descriptive word, which seems to be the accepted word to use today.
Evidentially, gay men dressing as women is so common around Vietnam, that it has turned into an entire industry of Lô Tô (number lottery show), with the very familiar 🎵Số gì ra, 🎵số gì đây (🎵What number comes out, 🎵what number is this?).
When you have been here for a while, you start to see this Lô Tô show all the time. …the singers in their beautiful dresses, with meticulously quaffed hair and perfect makeup. They are out in this carnival show for hours, …into the worst parts of the evening when the humidity ticks up and hour or two after dusk and many people retreat to airconditioned coffee shops or go home for the evening, …very melodically reminiscent of the priestly chanting, singing the songs to encourage people to buy the lotto tickets and to see how the gods of luck are deciding to treat them tonight. I have seen this in Ho Chi Minh, but also far out in the countryside. When you hear that very loud and melodic 🎵Số gì ra, 🎵số gì đây, (sounds like so zee ze, so zee day to English ears), you know there is a Lô Tô show nearby. I have even seen men make drunken fools of themselves as they become very grabby, occasionally assaulting the singers with some awkward touching and dancing, only to be quickly rebuffed and humbled.
These Lô Tô shows aren’t only for drunk frisky guys, but they are for the whole family. These shows are performed at weddings and other social events. They are where you take your entire family to see the show. The seems shocking in a Western context. It is where you let your hair down and drop your inhibitions. There is plenty of drinking in merriment as kids play on the carnival rides, the women go to gossip among themselves and the men gather, trying to see who could out-drink the other. At the end of the evening, all is forgotten and people return to their normal lives, never to bring up the actions of some men who couldn’t control their alcohol that evening, except to only joyfully reminisce before the next big night out.
I hear stories about similar musical shows in a monastery in Cambodia and assume there are several of these shows where monks dress as women to entertain the entire village. Of course, you have probably heard of the famous musical variety shows in Thailand, with the incredibly famous Tiffany Show in Pattaya. In the Philippines (a very conservative Catholic country) nearly every woman seems to have a “ladyboy” best friend / cousin / sister. This phenomenon of gay integration seems to be happening all over East Asia.
Ladyboy started being used in Thailand and is now the preferred term in much of East Asia as it perfectly describes a person who is walking in both worlds, a lady and a boy. They don’t get bogged down in political correctness. They picked a set of nouns and stuck with them and didn’t descend into the madness of attempting to completely rewrite all of their personal pronouns in their language. They stuck with the existing pronouns and kept it simple, which probably added to wider acceptance when there is a simple and common set of rules to follow.
I hear these stories from countries all over the region leading me to believe this is something way more important to the culture than just sexuality. This is acceptance of members of their society who cannot live a normal life and have families of their own, so they give to the community through their religious and entertainment service. They have formed their own community to support each other. These men become the family to the others who may be kicked out of their homes and genetic families or need someone to talk about strange feelings they may have. Generally, most families accept their gay children after the initial shock wears off and many are very proud of their service. This is a much healthier dynamic than you encounter in the West.
These men meet a vital need for the community through their religious service (and musical entertainment) and they are respected for it.
I am probably just touching the surface of this, so if you know a little more about this subject, please comment or send me a message. I will probably add more to this story in the future.