Overview
I study queer thought in twentieth-century Thailand, with a particular focus on tomboy (thom) histories. I am interested in how thom, as a category that combines notions of sexuality and gender, travels and transforms over time and across local, national, and transnational spaces. I analyze how thom-ness was depicted in popular discourses from the mid-twentieth century and how the category took on new meanings in the context of late-twentieth-century lesbian activism. I combine popular and activist writings with oral histories to trace the position of thom within trajectories of queer thought, politics, and activism in Thailand.