China's first gay pageant gives glimpse of new acceptance

[UPDATE 1/15/10 - Chinese police shut the event down before it got started.]

Eight men competing in Mr Gay China, which organisers say is a striking sign of how far attitudes to homosexuality have changed.

via guardian.co.uk, by Tania Branigan

Video

There's a swimwear round and a talent section where contestants can show off their singing and dancing. But organisers insist the contest to be held this Friday is a serious business. It is China's first gay pageant.

The event is a striking sign of how far attitudes in China have changed and of gay people's increasing confidence. Gay sex was illegal until 1997. Homosexuality was classed as a mental illness for four years after that. Now an emerging gay community is busting stereotypes.

"We are intelligent, we're professionals, we're gorgeous – and we're gay," said contestant Emilio Liu, from Inner Mongolia. "I want the audience to know there are a whole bunch of people like us living in China. It's a wonderful life and it's not hidden any more."

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China to Open a Gay Bar for World AIDS Day

Via Towleroad -




The bar for gays will open tomorrow, World AIDS Day, financed by public funds to the tune of 120,000 yuan ($17, 576), the Beijing News said, offered by Dali Prefecture government, and is to be run by The Good Friend Center, a non-governmental organization for gay men. Yunnan has the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases in the country, official data indicates.

Zhang Jianbo, the bar's manager, told the Global Times that the bar will not be operated for merely commercial purposes but rather serve as a platform to raise awareness of its gay clients about safe sex practice among them. "We might not even sell beverages in the bar. We will turn the bar into a tribune to offer lectures and training to gay people in order to reduce AIDS infections among them," he said.

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Aspirational masculine health - Chinese style

This large inflatable has been, um, erected in Hangzhou, in China's Zhejiang Province, to promote the upcoming 'Masculine Health Day'.

Going for the LGBT Advocacy Gold in China

China’s gays welcome spotlight

Activists hopeful Olympic attention will aid their cause - via the Washington Blade

Gay activists in China are hoping to use the international attention from this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing to showcase their fight for greater acceptance.

One such effort from a gay group involves a Beijing exhibition displaying 10,000 petition signatures from Chinese citizens who support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. The signatures are written in Chinese characters on brightly colored banners and notebooks and are showcased prominently in an exhibition room.

Bin Xu, a lesbian and head of the Chinese gay advocacy group known as Common Language, said her organization staged the exhibition with other groups in China.

“These signatures visibly demonstrate that love and commitment are values we all share and it is our hope the government will legally recognize same-sex couples,” she said in a phone interview with the Blade from China.

The display made its debut March 23 at a newly opened gay community center in Beijing. Xu called the center “the first of its kind in China” and said the center was opened to the public on the same day that Common Language launched its signature campaign.

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Pride and prejudice in China

Three gay Chinese tell of the challenges they face, and their hopes for a day when they will no longer be judged in China Daily, 14 January 2008.

Read one of the profiles from the story below...


Name: Ruo Zhe

Age: 33

Occupation: Webmaster of the first gay website www.gztz.org in China

Ruo Zhe used to think he was a monster, because of his attraction to the same sex. He even tried having a girlfriend at university, even though he knew that he felt nothing for her. "It's like your left hand touching your right hand," Ruo says.

The Beijing native decided to leave for Guangzhou after graduating from university, partly because there were job prospects and partly because he didn't want his parents to discover the truth. In 1997, he spent all his savings on a computer, which led him to a bigger world than he had ever imagined. "By visiting foreign websites, I realized that I was not the only gay man in the world," he says.

In order to meet other gay men, Ruo put his personal information both in English and Chinese on the Internet. A few months later, someone responded. Rather than feeling overjoyed, Ruo says that the prospect of meeting anyone face to face was terrifying. "I do care about being called a gay man in public, therefore emails are safer for me," he admits.

Eventually he met more men after being taken by a foreign friend to a local gay bar. "I was shocked to see so many people there. It seemed like a totally different world, where people all looked so relaxed, chatting and smiling," he says.

Ruo then launched the first Chinese website for gay people at the end of 1998, which aims to provide a platform for people to meet each other. The website offers news, health tips, entertainment listings and overviews of gay and lesbian communities in other countries.

Despite being the only full-time staff, Ruo says hundreds of people have offered to help out. The current registered membership has grown rapidly and now stands at 220,000. According to Ruo, most of these are young people aged between 20 and 30, up to 80 percent of whom are college educated.

Ruo has been living with his partner for six years. Even so, they seldom show their affections - such as holding hands - in public. "I know many gay men don't dare to do it either, because of social pressure," he says. "We have to wait till someday when we are accepted."

Ruo hopes to buy a car for his partner, dreaming of the day when they can drive wherever they want, listening to their favorite music.

Read the other two profiles.

Voluntary HIV testing for gay students in Beijing

Gay college students in Beijing are being offered 50 yuan ($6.50) cash bonuses and free medical treatments in exchange for undergoing voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) for HIV, according to a report by the Beijing Times on Wednesday.

So far, more than 100 homosexual university students have registered for the VCT at www.hivolunt.net. The students are enrolled at several Beijing universities, including Peking University, Tsinghua University and Renmin University of China, project coordinator Xiao Dong told China Daily.

The project was officially launched on Tuesday at a private hospital specialized in treating sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The goal is to raise awareness of such diseases among homosexual students and to obtain more firsthand information about on-campus gay culture.

It is also part of a nationwide effort to create connections between grassroot organizations for homosexuals and hospitals, said Xiao, who also leads a group called Rainbow.

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China's first video podcast by gay men for gay men debuts

I get the coolest stuff from this MSM-Asia listserv I belong to, such as the following... Need to brush up on the Chinese though, if you decide to check out the site or the podcast. I kinda like to pretend myself...
--Jim

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China's first video podcast by gay men for gay men debuts

11 April 2007 BEIJING.

Two young Chinese gay men are launching the country's first independent video podcast dedicated to discussing issues that impact their own lives and those of other gay Chinese. "Tongzhi yi fanren" (roughly translated as "queer as folk") is a weekly online television show to be seen on major Chinese Websites.

In addition to studio conversations with guests, the show will feature on-location segments that include special interviews and street surveys.

"As Chinese society becomes diverse and tolerant, we feel there is a severe shortage of visual content about the increasingly open gay community here," said Xiaogang, co-creator and co-host of the show. "We want to change that through our efforts by producing a unique podcast for fellow gay Chinese and the general public."

Xiaogang, a drama teacher, has assembled a like-minded small group that includes co-host Steven, a former television journalist. The passionate volunteers are proud of their ability to write, film and edit a professionally looking half-hour talk show with extremely limited resources and no commercial backing. "It's part entertainment and part an exploration of the dynamic characteristics of China's gay culture," explained Steven, also a co- creator of the show. "The result is a hip, timely and fun program that does not spend time justifying homosexuality, instead choosing to discuss and appreciate its intricacies in China."

The show debuts at 11 p.m. Wednesday, April 11 on the podcast section of its blog at blog.sina.com.cn/qafbeijing and will be simultaneously uploaded to other major Chinese video Websites such as tudou.com and youku.com.

The guest for the first show is Helen Feng, a rock musician and radio/television personality in Beijing. She and the two hosts held lively exchanges on the topic of gay-straight relationships, including their personal experiences in deploying "gaydar." "As a lifelong faghag, I truly enjoyed being part of this new and exciting program," joked Helen after the taping.

The first show also features street interviews with a diverse group of ordinary Beijing residents about their impressions on gays, with revealing and surprising answers. The guest for the second show will be Zhang Beichuan, a prominent medical professor who has devoted his career to various gay causes ranging from fighting HIV/AIDS to youth counseling and anti- discrimination legislation. For more information, please e-mail us at qafbeijingshow@.... You can also contact Xiaogang at (+86) 138-1113-7034 or Steven at (+86) 139-1069-4747.