Kuta Bubbles

Life is fab for gay white men on the beaches of Bali, where a beer or a boy is never far away. At the heart of Kuta's gay scene stands Klub Aloha, where Jack and his troupe of aging western queens perform tacky drag each week. But the arrival of a strange and secretive tourist, and news about the murder of one of the local moneyboys, shakes their complacent existence to its roots. After eight years of sunshine, sand, and sex, and the constant flow of alcohol, Jack grows weary of paradise, and his circle of friends also finds that their lives are transformed forever. Kuta Bubbles explores the complex relationship between east and west on the Bali gay scene. The freedoms of Bali feel like paradise compared to the oppressive worlds in which both tourists and local boys grew up, but to what extent can anyone ever really escape the drag of their past? Alan Brayne lived in Indonesia from 1996-2002, including two years teaching in Bali. He likes film noir, Charlie Chan movies, smelly cheese, and the colour turquoise. He is currently living and working in Singapore.