Inside the Circle: Queer Culture and Activism in Northwest China

"There are many meaningful contributions throughout Inside the Circle, from its central findings to its smaller observations. The discussion of romantic/passionate versus companionate/familial love; the inclusion of Buddhist faith perspectives that are still rare in studies of queer China; the compassionate and critical analysis of how an organization grew, deteriorated, and was rebirthed/reimagined- these and more will stick with me long after reading this work."  Amy Brainer, author of Queer Kinship and Family Change in Taiwan

"Inside the Circle challenges understandings of queer personhood in China. Tracing the struggles of queer activists in northwest China to reconcile their sexual identities with their deeply held beliefs about what it means to be a moral person, Miller convinces the reader with his rich ethnography that in postsocialist China, queer activism from the margins challenges reductive ideas about homonormativity, expands the public sphere without directly opposing state power, and helps us to imagine new forms of transnational solidarity." Lisa Rofel, author of Desiring China: Experiments in Neoliberalism, Sexuality, and Public Culture