Gay China News & Reports 2010 Jan-May

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China’s first gay pageant gives glimpse of new acceptance – Contest aims to boost community’s confidence in country where homosexuality was classed as illness until 2001

by Tania Branigan
Eight men competing in Mr Gay China, which organisers say is a striking sign of how far attitudes to homosexuality have changed Link to this 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." These days there are gay support groups and websites helping people to explore their sexuality and meet potential partners. There are gay venues in most major cities; last year, the first government-backed bar opened in Kunming, in south-western Yunnan. Shanghai held the first Gay Pride week and in Beijing, campaigners called for same-sex marriages.

Now comes Mr Gay China, reported in approving terms in English-language state media. Eight finalists will take to the stage of a Beijing nightclub to strut their stuff in casual clothes and swimwear, exhibit their talents and answer questions. The winner – picked for his ability to represent gay issues as well as his skills, personality and looks – will head to Norway for next month’s finals of Worldwide Mr Gay. "I don’t think people were ready before," said Ben Zhang, one of the organisers, recalling the "long and painful" process of discovering and accepting his sexuality, less than a decade ago.

It would be easy to overstate progress since then. Few of the participants are willing to give their full names and several complain about the stereotyping of gay men as weak or HIV-carriers. Strikingly, all are white collar workers and most have studied or worked abroad. Zhang acknowledges that life is tougher outside the big cities, but says that is why the event is needed: "If this gets seen by some country boy in Ningxia, maybe he will realise ‘It’s not horrible to be gay and I’m not alone.’"

For many, the biggest issue is invisibility. "People want to stay out of trouble so they stay away from anything different … It’s not necessarily that they’re afraid of it or think it’s bad. They just don’t want to know," said Liu, adding that a handful of friends cut him off after finding out that he was gay. He said the pressures on gay men in China are different from those elsewhere, not greater, pointing out that there is no religious condemnation and that anti-gay violence is rare. But although Liu,26, says that most friends and family accept his sexuality, he has not come out to his father or grandparents.

"China is a very traditional society," explained Steve Zhang, 30, who works in sales. Relatives have pestered him for years about finding a girl to marry. "When I finally told my uncle I had a boyfriend he wasn’t surprised but said, ‘Well, that’s not a long term thing,’" Zhang added. "They think having fun with boys doesn’t mean you love them; you will still get married in the end."

The pressure to marry is one reason why some campaigners see gay marriage as a goal, along with legal protection against discrimination. But few expect such changes soon. Official tolerance is highly variable. Activists and grassroots organisers complain of harassment by the authorities. Websites and publications have been shut down.

And although Shanghai Pride organisers deliberately kept it low key, with no banners or parade, the authorities forced the cancellation of some events. Despite signs of growing confidence in challenging such actions – last year, gay men faced down police conducting a sweep of a Guangzhou park – most opt for a non-confrontational approach. Organisers hope to avoid problems by keeping Mr Gay China low-key and did not invite mainstream Chinese-language media. "Officials could show up and say ‘your fire hydrant is in the wrong place," said Zhang. "It is still a sensitive issue."

January 12, 2010 – AFP

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China paper splashes nation’s ‘first gay marriage’

By Dan Martin (AFP)
Beijing — State press splashed a front-page photo of China’s first publicly "married" gay couple on Wednesday the latest sign of new openness about homosexuality in a country where it has long been taboo. The page-one story in the English-language China Daily featured a photograph of the "newlyweds" arm-in-arm during a January 3 ceremony.

Zeng Anquan, 45, and Pan Wenjie, 27, tied the knot at a gay bar in the southwestern city of Chengdu, the paper said, calling it "the first such public event in the country". Homosexuality remains a sensitive issue in China. It was officially considered a form of mental illness as recently as 2001. Same-sex marriages or civil unions have no legal basis.

"We are no longer hiding any more. The wedding is our happiest and most precious moment," Zeng, a divorced architect, told the paper. "Thousands of gays and lesbians get married in France, Finland, the UK. Why couldn’t we?" Although the vast majority of gays in China are believed to remain in the closet, a number of signs have emerged recently that official attitudes may be softening.

Last month, China’s first government-backed gay bar opened in the tourist town of Dali in southwestern Yunnan province, after a three-week delay sparked by intense media attention, in a bid to boost HIV/AIDS prevention efforts. On Friday, the country’s first gay pageant is scheduled to be held in Beijing to choose the Asian nation’s candidate for the Mr Gay World contest in Norway next month. China’s top state-run radio network plans to launch a new programme this weekend about AIDS that features an HIV-positive host, according to a recent report by Xinhua news agency, which did not mention whether the host was gay.

However, the deep-seated sensitivity of the issue in Chinese society has reared its head in the Zeng-Pan wedding, with the families of the two men reportedly condemning their nuptials. "My sister warned me she would never call me her brother unless I break up with Pan, and I have answered hundreds of phone calls from friends and relatives who say they feel ashamed of me," said Zeng. "But we are deeply in love and will never desert each other," he said of his relationship with Pan, a recently demobilised soldier.

More than 200 of the couple’s gay friends attended the ceremony, which one of the newlyweds attended in a white wedding dress, the China Daily said, without specifying who was the "bride". Zeng said the couple feared discrimination and had thus moved to a small town near Chengdu where they were unknown to avoid unwanted attention. According to Chinese experts cited in press reports, there are an estimated 30 million homosexuals in China, and 20 million of them are men.

January 13, 2010 – PinkNews

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China’s state press covers gay wedding

by Jessica Geen
A state-run Chinese newspaper gave its front page to a gay wedding today. China Daily, an English-language newspaper, featured the wedding of Zeng Anquan and Pan Wenjie, which took place on January 3rd. Same-sex marriage and civil unions are not legally recognised in China, yet the media attention on the story follows a number of recent gay rights breakthroughs in the county.

Last month, the first state-run gay bar opened and this Friday will see China’s first gay pageant. According to AFP, China Daily’s coverage of the wedding called it "the first such public event in the country". The happy couple married in a gay bar in the town of Chengdu. They recently moved to a nearby village to avoid unwanted attention, although they may now find themselves the poster children for gay rights in the country.

Zeng, who had previously been married to a woman, told the newspaper: "We are no longer hiding any more. The wedding is our happiest and most precious moment. "Thousands of gays and lesbians get married in France, Finland, the UK. Why couldn’t we?" Although 200 of the couple’s friends attended the ceremony, their families did not. The couple said their relatives were ashamed of them.

January 15, 2010 – PinkNews

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Mr Gay China pageant shut down by police

by Jessica Geen
China’s first gay pageant has been shut down by police for apparently not following the correct procedures. The event was scheduled to begin today in Beijing, with eight contestants fighting for the chance to represent their country at the Mr Gay World competition later this year.

Rumours began appearing on Twitter at around midday UK time that the event had been cancelled, with gay group ShanghaiLGBT reporting on Twitter that the organisers had been told they had not "followed the right procedures". Organiser Ben Zhang confirmed this to Associated Press shortly afterwards. He said that the application to stage the event had not followed the "correct procedures".

January 19, 2010 – PinkNews

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China will not compete for Mr Gay World

by Jessica Geen
Following the cancellation of the first gay pageant last week, China will not be sending a national finalist to the Mr Gay World competition next month. The pageant was due to take place on Friday but was shut down by police hours before it started. Organisers were told they had not applied for permits correctly after the pageant received worldwide media attention.

Organiser Ben Zhang had planned to select a winner from the eight contestants privately but said today the decision had been taken not to. He would not state why, instead telling Associated Press: "This was a very carefully considered decision. We just cannot send anyone, the organisers and competitors came to this decision together." Co-organiser Ryan Dutcher told CNN that he had ensured all permits were correctly applied for.

Several of the eight participants reportedly planned to use the pageant as a way of coming out. Since the event was shut down, several other gay-related events have been cancelled by police. An AIDS charity called Aizhixing had several meetings cancelled, while a state-sponsored and UN-supported radio talk show on HIV issues was also postponed.

China only decriminalised homosexuality in 1997 and it was seen as a mental illness until 2001. The cancellation of Mr Gay China follows several small advances for gay rights in the country. It opened a state-funded gay bar last month and state media recently reported on a gay wedding, despite the practice being illegal.

19 January 2010 – Fridae

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China AIDS NGO forced to cancel 16th anniversary celebrations

by News Editor
The same weekend the Mr Gay China pageant was cancelled, a prominent AIDS activist said his NGO was forced to cancel its 16th anniversary celebrations while a state-sponsored and UN-supported radio talk show dealing with HIV issues slated to air last Saturday has been postponed. Less than 24 hours after the police shut down Mr Gay China pageant which was to be held at a Beijing club for not possessing relevant license, Aizhixing, a prominent Beijing-based AIDS non-government organisation (NGO), was reportedly forced to cancel a gathering to mark the 16th anniversary of its founding.

"We don’t know exactly why, and we did not really ask," Dr Wan Yanhai, founder of the Beijing Aizhixing Institute, and a leading HIV/AIDS and LGBT human rights advocate in China, was quoted as saying in a CNN report. "The government might not believe in what we are doing. We hoped we could operate more openly in society. But it seems that the government will not accept this."

Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post and CNN also reported that what was to be the debut of the mainland’s first state-sponsored radio programme dedicated to HIV issues last Saturday has been postphoned. The CNN report also quoted Zhang Wei, a spokesperson for the UN Development Program, as saying that the program, "Positive Talks," was scheduled to start airing weekly on China National Radio but so far has not received final approval from the government.

In a Jan 17 report titled “Pressure on gays intensifies after pageant shutdown”, the Post noted that it’s unknown “why the police launched the high-profile crackdown, with 200 people and journalists at the scene, an hour before the contest began” as Chinese officials usually notify organisers days or hours beforehand should they feel that an event is not permitted to be held. The SCMP report also noted that the local media including Beijing News reported on the cancellation. However, the report quoted police from Beijing’s Chaoyang district as saying the organisers cancelled the event "voluntarily" as opposed to the event being “shut down” by the police as reported by foreign media.

Professor Li Yinhe, a prominent sociologist specialising in gay culture studies, was quoted in the same report as saying that she was “confused” by the crackdown. "In dealing with the issue of homosexuality, authorities are always more conservative than the general public and as a result we have no rules to follow," she said. Meanwhile, the organisers of the Mr Gay China pageant have announced on its web site yesterday that they have decided not to send a delegate to represent China in Oslo despite their initial plans to select a winner from the eight contestants privately.

Organisers Gayographic also announced that their weekly events at Lan Club have been “postponed indefinitely” but did not give any reasons for doing so. The organisers did not respond to Fridae’s request for comment.

19 January 2010 – The Guardian

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China’s gay rights revolution

by David Bartram
Despite periodic state crackdowns, increasing education and debate are bringing China’s gay community out of the shadows

It’s a peculiarly Chinese way of dealing with things, the last-minute cancellation. Now China’s gay community have learned, just like music festival organisers before them, that even licences and assurances can’t protect a controversial event from a late knock on the door from the police. But Friday’s cancellation of China’s first official gay pageant, hours before it was due to begin in Beijing, will sting more than most government interventions. This was supposed to mark a new dawn for China’s LGBT population. Instead, after a decade of mixed signals, China’s gay community just wants the government to talk straight for once.

It’s easy to see why the Chinese gay rights movement has been left wondering just where it stands. Homosexuality was only removed from the state-approved list of mental illnesses in 2001, and since the government has broadly taken a laissez-faire approach to the issue. While Beijing is home to a handful of gay clubs, it would be extremely unusual to see a gay couple openly affectionate in any other public place. It appeared the government was happy for a gay community to exist, as long as it broadly stayed out of the public eye.

Yet last year, something seemed to change. In April, the state-run China Daily, the country’s largest English-language newspaper, splashed a picture of a gay couple marrying close to Tiananmen Square on its front page. Although the marriage was primarily ceremonial and not legally binding, it was state-approved. The paper ran a similar front page story last week, days before the cancellation of the gay pageant.

And there were more signs that senior officials were keen to, if not promote, at least educate Chinese people about gay rights. I was asked by an editor at one of China’s most popular state-run youth newspapers to write an article last year detailing how "being gay is OK now". It seemed a strange request at the time, but was just one of a series of articles featured in the newspaper that made an effort to talk more openly about sexuality.

So why the sudden change? One reason could be to address China’s youth, which is often woefully uninformed on sexual issues. Rising numbers of HIV cases (estimates suggest around 700,000 Chinese are HIV-positive), and an increased exposure to more sexually liberal western television and film may have forced the government’s hand on discussing not just gay issues, but sex in general. The government would rather maintain some control over sex education than allow shows such as Desperate Housewives – immensely popular among Chinese students keen to improve their English – to do the job for them.

Chinese forums are awash with the debate, another sign that things may be changing. One poster even joked that tóng xìng (same-sex) relationships could be the answer to the country’s lopsided boy-to-girl ratio. It is estimated that by 2020 around 24m Chinese men of marrying age will be without spouses.

When the owner of a bar announced to me a few months ago that he was rebranding his establishment as a gay club, it was not a political but a financial statement. But it was also a sign that going gay can bring financial incentives in the city’s hyper-competitive bar and club scene. As ever in China, it could be economic growth that precedes social change.

Yet still, as events on Friday showed, there is a strong enough reactionary presence within the party to clamp down on what it sees as politically sensitive. The cancellation will serve as a warning that while homosexuality is now tolerated, the government continues to have the final say on what is and what isn’t allowed to be publicly promoted. For the time being China’s gay community will remain in the shadows, but as a sexual revolution approaches, it might not be long before a Chinese man is proclaimed Mr Gay World.

February 2010 – JAIDS

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Sexual Risk Behaviors and HIV Infection Among Men Who Have Sex With Men Who Use the Internet in Beijing and Urumqi, China

by Huachun Zou, MD, MS,* Zunyou Wu, MD, PhD,* Jianping Yu, MD,† Min Li, MD,† Muhtar Ablimit, MD,‡ Fan Li, MD,‡ Lin Pang, MD, MPH,* and Naomi Juniper, MS*

Introduction
In most developed countries, men who have sex with men (MSM) were the first group affected by HIV/AIDS and they still account for a large proportion of reported HIV/AIDS cases.1,2 China’s HIV/AIDS epidemic has progressed differently with intravenous drug users and former commercial blood donors accounting for more than 62% of accumulated HIV/AIDS cases between 1985 and 2006.3 HIV transmission through blood transfusion has been stopped; and methadone maintenance treatment, needle exchange programs, and health education have helped reduce the spread of HIV among drug addicts in China.4,5 Studies indicated rapid rising rates of HIV infection among MSM in China. In 2005, MSM accounted for 7.3% of China’s estimated 650,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, however, by 2007, this figure had increased to 12.2% of the estimated 700,000 HIV/AIDS cases.3 The proportion of MSM in reported cases of HIV/AIDS in the China national notifiable disease system has dramatically increased from 0.4% in 2005 to 3.3% in 2007.3,6 Various determinants increase the likelihood MSM have large numbers of multiple lifetime sexual partners and engage in high-risk sexual behaviors rendering them more vulnerable to HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).7,8 If appropriate and effective actions are not taken, China may face a significant increase in HIV infection among MSM.

According to the China Internet Network Information Center, by September 2007, nearly 71 million urban adult males were using the internet.9 It is estimated that 10%–15% of adult males in China have had lifetime male/male sexual experiences including kissing, fondling, mutual masturbation, and oral and anal sex.10 MSM are increasingly using the internet to look for sex, and significant associations between internet sex-seeking and high-risk sexual behaviors have been reported.11–13 There are growing numbers of international studies indicating sexual intercourse with male partners met online increases HIV/STIs risk,12,14 however, the characteristics of Chinese men who have sex with men who use the internet (MSMUI) have not yet been well documented. The nature of the internet makes it an ideal venue for recruiting understudied, at-risk groups,14 such as Chinese MSM who might be less willing to respond to more conventional research approaches. To better understand MSMUI in China, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of 429 MSMUI in 2 cities in China in 2007.

Read Report HERE

February 2010 – JAIDS

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Evolution of Men Who Have Sex With Men Community and Experienced Stigma Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Chengdu, China

by Feng, Yuji MD, PhD; Wu, Zunyou MD, PhD; Detels, Roger MD, MS
Introduction
Stigma and discrimination have been identified as primary obstacles against effective HIV prevention.1,2 As elsewhere, men who have sex with men (MSM) in China are suffering from stigma and discrimination.3,4 In the past 30 years, Chinese society has experienced dramatic sexual liberation concurrent with adoption of more liberal policies and economic reforms. These changes include increasing pre- and extramarital sex, development of a flourishing sex industry, internet and casual sex, and more openness regarding homosexual behaviors. Increasing numbers of people now regard sexuality as a basic human right, meaning that everyone has the right and freedom to pursue his or her own sexual happiness.5-7 Sodomy, previously condemned as a form of hooliganism, was removed from legislation in 1997,4 and homosexual behaviors were excluded from the China Psychiatrics Classification and Diagnostic Criteria, Version 3, as a psychosis in 2001, indicating an increasing acceptance of MSM in general society.7

Nevertheless, homosexuality is still regarded as deviation from social mores by mainstream society in China. A survey among 3000 college students across China in 1992 revealed that 82.0% of male students and 84.5% of female students believed that homosexual behaviors were a psychopathic disorder.8 When asked how they would react if their best friend were homosexual, 67.5% responded that they would suggest to that friend that he seek treatment, and 11.2% would break off the friendship; if it were a relative, 30.4% said that they would feel ashamed, and 38.6% said that they would consider it to be a serious illness.8 Another study among Chinese students in 2002 had similar results, in which 78.6% of men and 66.4% of women disapproved of the concept that homosexuality should be allowed.6

Due to discrimination against homosexuals, MSM remain a hidden population. Thus, it is difficult to reach MSM with information and intervention programs. Admitting to homosexuality reduces their quality of social life and family support, leads to low self-esteem, increases high-risk behaviors such as sexual aggression and drug or alcohol abuse, often resulting in poor psychologic and physical health.3,9-12 They also have difficulty in negotiating safer sex. The pressure of strong Chinese tradition to marry and have children, intensified by the current 1-child policy, causes many MSM to hide their sexual orientation and get married, putting their wives and children at risk of HIV infection and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).13,14

Chengdu, one of the major cultural and economic centers in southwest China, is noted for its tolerance and openness. The total number of sexually active MSM has been estimated to be as high as 71,000 in Chengdu.15 The HIV prevalence among MSM increased dramatically from 0.6% in 2003 to 5.8% in 2006.16 To date, only a few studies have been carried out in China about the stigma and discrimination experienced by MSM. In this qualitative study, we document MSM activities and discrimination experienced in Chengdu.

Read Article HERE

February 17, 2010 – The New York Times

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China: Gay Pageant Contestant Wins a Prize

by Edward Wong
A 25-year-old Muslim man from China was the third runner-up in the Worldwide Mr. Gay pageant, which ended Sunday in Oslo. The man,who is known publicly by his nickname, Xiao Dai, entered the contest despite the fact that Chinese authorities last month canceled Mr. Gay China, a smaller pageant in Beijing that would have been the first of its kind. After the cancellation, contestants and organizers quietly selected Xiao Dai to represent China in Oslo.

February 21, 2010 – USA Today

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Gay life in China is legal but remains hidden

by Kathy Chu and Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY
Beijing — It’s past midnight and hundreds of men pack Destination. They talk in smoky corridors, move to the beat on a crowded dance floor and play shirtless around a dance pole. Destination is a lot like any number of gay bars in the United States, but outside of the club, it’s a different world for gays in China. Openness about homosexuality is seen by some as too much of a refutation of the Communist Party line in a country where men are pressured by the government and tradition to marry and father a child, gays say.

Gay festivals are shut down and websites closed, and laws preventing discrimination do not exist. "If something’s different and you publicly promote it, (the authorities) worry it could get out of control and threaten their harmonious society," says Bin Xu, director of Common Language, a lesbian, gay and transgender support group based in Beijing. In January, authorities canceled the Mr. Gay China pageant an hour before it was to start. Police in Songzhuang, an artist’s colony in the suburbs of Beijing, sought last year to shut down a gay arts exhibition, which Xu’s group helped organize, because it was deemed "not proper," Xu says.

She negotiated with authorities and was allowed to hold the event after taking down four paintings. Even in Hong Kong — where the Mr. Gay Hong Kong pageant took place with no government interference — men such as Tik Wai Yeung, 25, say they can’t freely express themselves because of cultural pressures to hide their homosexuality. "It’ll be 30 more years before it’s normal to walk on the streets holding hands," Yeung says.

Often resort to leading double lives
For the gay community, China today is "like the USA in the 1960s and 1970s," says Wei Xiaogang of Beijing, who runs the Queercomrades.com site. China decriminalized homosexuality in 1997 — six years before the United States repealed sodomy laws in all states. But, unlike in the USA, no laws bar discrimination based on sexual orientation. The lack of legal protection, plus the great weight of family and social pressures, keeps most Chinese gays solidly in the closet, Wei says. Hot-button issues in the United States such as gays serving in the military are barely discussed in China as gay rights are rarely mentioned in the national media. The occasional reports on homosexuality are usually coupled with HIV/AIDS issues, Wei says.

"This does not help understanding of homosexuality, and only increases the feeling of fear among Chinese gays. They become less willing to stand up, or protect themselves more actively," he says. Chinese culture plays heavily into the treatment of gays and how they lead their lives. In China, as in many parts of Asia, marriage represents not only a way to continue the family line but also to find a partner who’ll take care of men and their aging parents. When Wei told his mother he was gay, she asked, "Who will look after you, wash your clothes or cook for you?" Because many Asians live with their parents until they get married, it’s often harder for them to lead openly gay lives.

"Maybe you can come out in your workplace, but not at home, so you get married," says Zhang Beichuan, a professor at Qingdao University and an expert on homosexuality. China’s one-child policy also puts pressure on gays and lesbians to have kids, because their families "really care that they produce a child," says Sun Zhongxin, who pioneered a 2005 course about homosexuality at Fudan University in Shanghai. The prevalence of double lives — by one measure, as many as 90% of Chinese gays marry the opposite sex, compared with a fraction of that in Western nations — has prevented true acceptance of homosexuality, some experts say.

Gay men might be more open about their sexuality, says Mr. Gay Hong Kong, Rick Twombley, if they felt protected against discrimination. "It’s the most important thing, in mainland China and in Hong Kong" that gay men need, Twombley, 33, said during a party where he unveiled his elaborate one-shoulder, gold-and-red costume for the Worldwide Mr. Gay pageant to dozens of clapping supporters. Although Hong Kong law protects gays and lesbians from government discrimination, they have little recourse if a private employer fires them.

Fighting the propaganda machine
In China, the Ministry of Health is open about gay issues but the propaganda and security departments are a different matter, Zhang says. Discrimination affects perhaps 100 million gays and their immediate families, Zhang estimates.

"In legal and human rights circles, no one is paying attention to this area," says Zhang, who doubts there will be rapid progress on anti-discrimination legislation. "China faces a bottleneck as government policies and legislation have not kept up" with social developments, he says. "Other disadvantaged groups like ethnic minorities, the disabled, and women and children, all have protective legal measures, but there is no clear assistance for gays."

As legislation remains years away, Wei and fellow activists instead work toward more public discussion and greater tolerance in the national media. In December, Wei despaired when a newscaster at CCTV, the national broadcaster, spoke of "homosexual sufferers" in a piece introducing a gay bar that opened with government backing. "If we can’t change attitudes at the top, it’s very hard to change them at the grass roots," Wei says.

Chu reported from Hong Kong

2010 March 10 – China Daily

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Include gays in the fight against HIV – Call to halt homosexual discrimination

by Shan Juan and Xin Dingding (China Daily)
Beijing – A former senior health official has urged local health authorities to eliminate discrimination against gay men and to enlist their involvement in China’s fight against HIV/AIDS. The government is currently capable of reaching less than 10 percent of the country’s gay population who are at high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, in order to intervene if an epidemic is in danger of breaking out, former vice-health minister Wang Longde told China Daily on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress (NPC) session.

"The low intervention rate seriously undermines the nation’s efforts to curb HIV/AIDS from spreading among the entire population, particularly when sex has become the primary means of new infections in the nation," he warned. Only when 60 percent of high-risk groups like gay men are capable of being reached by effective interventions can the disease be prevented from spreading among the general public, according to the World Health Organization.

In recent years, while the infection rate of HIV/AIDS remained less than 0.1 percent for the entire Chinese population, gay men were particularly hard hit by the virus, with nearly 10 percent found to be HIV-positive in big cities, official statistics show. As a result of family pressure and social stigma, more than 80 percent of gay men marry women in China, according to a widely-cited survey by Professor Zhang Beichuan, of Qingdao University’s Medical School.

Seventy percent of gay men who took part in the survey had multiple sexual partners, while only 30 percent used condoms as a protective measure, which underlines Wang’s call for effective intervention, as well as the need for support from within the gay community, to prevent the further spread of HIV/AIDS. Backing the call, Zhang said: "As discrimination and stigma scares them away, health authorities at both central and local levels have to cooperate with the group to reverse the situation."

Hao Yao, deputy director of the disease prevention and control bureau under the Ministry of Health, said the government had already realized the need for support from within the gay community and acted accordingly. In December, China’s first government-funded gay bar opened in Dali, Yunnan province, with the support of local anti-AIDS organizations. However, nationally, there is still a long way to go in the fight against gay discrimination, especially among health officials, Wang noted.

March 16, 2010 – PinkNews

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HIV infections in gay men ‘increasing in homophobic countries’

by Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk
Rates of HIV infections in gay men are increasing in countries which have homophobic attitudes, the chief of the UN AIDS agency has said. Michel Sidibe told journalists at a lunch yesterday that rates of infection among gay men were rising in areas such as Africa, where many countries have laws against homosexuality. He said that in Africa and China, around 33 per cent of new HIV infections were being found in gay men, which he said was a significant increase.

AP reports that on new laws being introduced in countries such as Uganda, he said: "You have also a growing conservatism which is making me very scared. "We must insist that the rights of the minorities are upheld. If we don’t do that … I think the epidemic will grow again. We cannot accept the tyranny of the majority."

Mr Sidibe said that, in contrast, between six and nine per cent of new infections are found in gay men in the Caribbean, which has fewer laws against homosexuality. He blamed the rising infection rates on infected people being too scared to seek help and fearing they will be punished. He also cited rising infection rates in drug users and prostitutes in countries which have stringent laws against drug use and prostitution.

Uganda’s proposed anti-homosexuality law will impose the death penalty on those caught having gay sex while infected with HIV. The bill’s sponsor, David Bahati MP, claims it will reduce HIV infections in the country, although health experts say it will have the opposite effect. Mr Sidibe also mentioned HIV infections in the US, saying it was "shocking" that more than 50 per cent of new infections in 2009 occurred in gay men.

He said: "It seems like we have come full circle. After almost no cases a few years ago we are seeing again this new peak among people who are not having access to all the information, the protection that is needed."

March 16, 2010 – Taipei Times

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Shanghai gay life flourishes

Shanghai – In a shabby hall in a working-class area of Shanghai, dozens of men slow dance to a ballad, enjoying a few hours in the company of other homosexuals before going home — many to their wives. Every weekend evening, men of all ages pay 7 yuan (US$1) to waltz, rumba and be themselves — no small feat in China, where homosexuals still face crushing social and familial pressure.

“If you’re gay and people find out in my hometown, everything is over,” said Leon, a 28-year-old tour guide from Anhui Province who has lived in Shanghai for 10 years, is married and has a boyfriend on the side. “But in Shanghai, there are a lot of people like us and places like this — it’s a good city for us.”

Homosexuality has long been a sensitive issue in China, where it was officially considered a mental disorder until 2001, but experts and gays say there has been marked improvement. “In the past, even in the early 2000s, gay bars in normal cities would often be subject to police interference,” said Zhang Beichuan, a Qingdao University professor and an expert on homosexuality. “Now the situation has changed … One can do lots of things more openly.”

Shanghai is considered by some as the “gay capital” of China, boasting trendy bars, clubs and even sport teams such as swimming and volleyball squads for homosexuals. The city also discreetly hosted the nation’s first gay pride festival last June. Although authorities canceled some events, they allowed most to go ahead. Other cities in China are also opening up. A government-backed gay bar opened in December in Dali, in Yunnan Province.

Experts estimate there are about 30 million gays and lesbians in China — which would be just 2.3 percent of the population. Observers concede the number could be higher as many still refuse to come out. Back at the Lailai dance hall, as couples waltz on lino flooring under flashing green and red lights and tinsel, Ma Qun sits, quietly watching. The 75-year-old says he never married, but also never dared find a boyfriend either, growing up as he did at a time when no one in the country even admitted homosexuality existed.

“Now, though, there is no more pressure in my heart,” he said with a smile. Experts say Chinese people’s acceptance of homosexuality has increased thanks to the work done by non-governmental organizations, the media, some schools and the Internet to raise awareness and understanding. However, many are still unable to accept it, particularly in smaller cities and in the countryside.

“The main reason lies in the fact that China really cares about continuing the ancestral line,” said sexologist Li Yinhe, adding the country’s one-child policy also had a great impact. “If you don’t procreate, then the family will have no descendants. In China, the term juehu [without descendants] is actually a swear word.” Acknowledging this concern, some gays and lesbians in China are marrying each other to satisfy their parents’ demands.

One bar even hosts “matchmaking” sessions for gays and lesbians to meet with a view to tying the knot, said Kenneth Tan, spokesman for Shanghai LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender). While China is mainly devoid of any religious influence that could lead to anti-gay discrimination, homosexuality is still not entirely accepted politically. In January, police canceled the nation’s first Mr Gay China beauty pageant in Beijing after it had attracted weeks of coverage both in foreign and domestic media.

For Leon, family pressure is why he married his classmate and had a daughter, now two years old. He says his wife is unaware of his sexual preference. “Sometimes I feel a little sorry for my wife but how can I make up for it now? I can only support her with money and give her the best life possible,” he said. In Shanghai, Ma refused to reflect on a difficult past, and looked instead to the future. “I’m old, and I’m just satisfied that people can now come out and talk about it,” he said.

March 18th 2010 – The Economist

12
Collateral damage – Neither comrades nor spouses

From The Economist print edition
Beijing – “There are three ways of being an unfilial son,” argued Mencius, an ancient Confucian philosopher. “The most serious is to have no heir.” The desire for male descendants has had many baleful consequences in China, and in recent years one that used to be hidden has come to light. Millions upon millions of women are trapped in loveless and often miserable marriages to homosexual men. Thanks to the internet their cries for help have been heard widely enough in mainstream culture to earn their plight a commonly accepted abbreviation. They are known as “tongqi”, combing the words “tongzhi”, or comrade, Chinese slang for “gay”, with “qizi”, meaning “wife” in Mandarin.

It is estimated that 15-20% of gay men in America marry heterosexual women. But Liu Dalin, a pioneering sexologist now retired from the University of Shanghai, has put the share in China at 90%. If so, the number of tongqi in China may be as high as 25m. Li Yinhe, a sociologist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, explains this in almost the same terms as Mencius: “The name for a family without descendants is juehu, which means ‘a house that is severed’. That is considered the biggest tragedy and causes huge pain.”

But so do many tongqi unions. Mrs Li explains why she thinks a woman should never marry a gay man: “Their husbands don’t want to look them in the eyes. They’re not willing to get close to them or touch their bodies. This is a huge blow to a woman’s sense of self-worth.”

He Xiaopei runs a Beijing-based tongqi support group, called Pink Space. She says some tongqi have sunk into severe depression because of their husbands’ refusal or inability to have sex with them. Tongqi brides typically have little sexual experience before marriage, and little knowledge of homosexuality. Once they have discovered their husband’s sexuality and accepted that he cannot change, they often feel angry and betrayed.

Pink Space offers no advice to those who contact it, just moral support. Mrs He says that many women who join her group feel immense relief after they have unburdened themselves. A small fraction eventually opt for divorce. But most choose to slog unhappily on with their sham and desolate unions.

Mrs Li says their husbands cannot be blamed, citing the parental and other social pressure to conceal their sexual orientation and marry. China has no powerful gay lobby. But Mrs Li has used her reputation to campaign for same-sex marriage. In 2003 she sought support at the National People’s Congress (NPC) for legalising gay marriage. She could not even secure the backing required for a formal debate (30 delegates out of some 3,000). She has since tried three times to provoke a similar discussion at an advisory body to the NPC. She sees some progress. When she started her lobbying, delegates would tell her gay marriage was wrong. Now they say China is not ready for it. But Mrs Li cannot see change coming soon, so strong is China’s family-dominated culture. “If tongqi marriages become a thing of the past,” she says, “then the last country in which that will happen will be China.”

March 20, 2010 – US-China Today

13
Homosexuality in China – In China, where tradition reigns, homosexuality is no longer taboo. What is the view from those living in the country?

by Steffi Lau
Hong Kong native Joe Lam knew he was different. As a 14-year-old, he began to wonder if he was gay, confused by his attraction to boys. But with no portrayals of gay people in the media, no discussion of gays and no Internet, he wasn’t quite sure what he was. He only knew he was different.

When he was 21, Lam traveled outside of Hong Kong for the first time. In London, he witnessed gay men holding hands on the street, something he had never seen before. Having been exposed to a different world, he returned to Hong Kong and immersed himself in a new life. He was soon living with his boyfriend and had come to terms with being gay. Yet he had still to confront one major obstacle – he hadn’t come out to his family, worried how his traditional Chinese family would react. For New Year’s dinner, he asked if he could bring his roommate. His mom said yes.

“Let’s be honest, he’s my partner,” Lam told his mom.

“Of course I know, I’m your mother,” his mom replied.

Today, 35-year-old Lam is the publisher of Dim Sum Magazine, Hong Kong’s first gay magazine, as well as festival director of the Hong Kong Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Though his parents struggled with the idea of him being gay at first, Lam said they have come to accept it.

“My mom said to me, as long as you’re happy, I’m fine,” Lam said. While Hong Kong has long been ahead of China, Lam’s story is an example of China’s changing attitudes towards homosexuality. In a country where homosexuality was once a taboo subject, increasing numbers of Chinese are becoming more tolerant of homosexuality.

Read Article

24 March 2010 – Fridae

14
Reggie Ho: The loneliness of long distance activism

by Nigel Collett
Fridae.com’s Hong Kong correspondent Nigel Collett meets Reggie Ho, Chairman of Hong Kong’s Gay Helpline Service, HORIZONS – one of the oldest LGBT organisations in the territory. A decade is a long time in the relentless and seemingly never-ending struggle for gay rights. Frustration, fatigue, distress and burn out are all too common amongst both LGBT organisations and the volunteers that run them. Why should this be? Hong Kong is an open society with a free press enjoying the liberties enshrined within the Common Law and its own Basic Law. You can register almost any kind of society here, and, if you want to, take it onto the streets to protest. All the mechanisms of a functioning democracy are in place. What these mechanisms are not connected to, of course, is power; the cogs whir but fail to drive the machinery, and activist effort can often feel like wading through treacle. Huge effort is needed to make just tiny advances.

Add to that the still conservative nature of Hong Kong’s society, which keeps most tongzhi firmly behind their closet doors and so away from the volunteer organisations that need the help of large numbers to function and be financially viable. No money means no full time workers, so the load falls onto the shoulders of the volunteer few. After years of struggle, many activists retire bruised and frustrated, often, too, sadly unnoticed and un-thanked. It’s no wonder that when you look around at the brave few who are leading LGBT groups in Hong Kong today, you will find few who have survived through the long term.
Reggie Ho

One of those who have is Reggie Ho, who currently heads HORIZONS, which runs Hong Kong’s gay helpline. We met over drinks on the roof of the Fringe Club in Central and Reggie told me about his life and work for the tongzhi community. First, though, I ask him to tell me about HORIZONS, which is not widely-enough known in the English-speaking community.

“It’s one of the oldest LGBT organisations in Hong Kong”, he replies, “founded in February 1992 – in the days following the successful fight for the decriminalisation of homosexuality – by four gay Hong Kong men and a Brit named Barrie Brandon, who’d worked on the London Gay Switchboard. They saw there was a need for a similar hotline in Hong Kong and set one up. Barrie left in 1993, and HORIZONS gradually took on the local Hong Kong flavour it still has today. Its original English-speaking counsellors were replaced over the years with Chinese and it runs totally in Cantonese at the moment, though we’re now seeking to add back an English element.”

At the start, HORIZONS took calls at the homes of volunteers, but with careful budgeting a very small office was opened, financed by social events and most recently by the generosity of a landlord, and they’ve run the hotlines as a free service from there ever since. In the nineties, in the days before the internet changed gay men’s lives and when the commercial gay scene was a lot smaller than it is now, there was a need in Hong Kong’s tongzhi community for a lot more than hotline support.

“We ran support groups for tongzhi and also for their parents for about six years from the middle ‘90s”, adds Reggie, “and we had other groups for coming out and couples counselling and social groups for things like hiking, movies and music. For about five years we ran a tea dance at Club 97 in Lan Kwai Fong, and when it was at its most popular this attracted up to 150 gay men. Now, these additional activities aren’t needed so much and we’ve concentrated on our core issue, the hotline.”

Read Article

April 13, 2010 – The Christian Science Monitor

15
Amid family pressures, gays in China turn to marriages of convenience

In China, where homosexuality remains taboo, many gays enter marriages of convenience to satisfy family pressure to wed and have children. While they act like a couple in front of their families, many don’t live together.

by Zhang Yajun, Contributor
Beijing – Xiaojian was on his 10th blind date, and it wasn’t going well. A few minutes in, he already found himself rejected. The reason: He was too short. Xiaojian isn’t even looking for love. As a gay man, he only wants to form a xingshi marriage, or marriage of convenience, to ease the pressure from his family to settle down.

China decriminalized homosexuality in 1997, and in 2001 removed it from the official list of mental disorders. But the social stigma against gays remains deep, and in a society where family plays an important role, it is intensely reinforced by parents pressuring their children to get married and carry on the family line. Zhang Beichuan, a professor at Qingdao University who has studied homosexuality in China since the 1980s, estimates that the country has about 30 million gay men and women between the ages of 15 and 60.

Of them, 80 to 90 percent “eventually get married,” he says. In China, parents often play a big part in the life decisions of their children well into adulthood. Disobeying parents – for example, by refusing to get married and so continue the family line – is considered deeply unfilial.

Many gay people, then, are turning to the xingshi marriage: A gay man and a lesbian (or, sometimes, a heterosexual woman) will marry one another to deflect the nagging from their parents and relatives. They meet through friends or over the Internet. After marrying, they won’t necessarily live with one another, and many maintain their own same-gender partners. But in front of their families they act like real couples.

Parental pressure
For Xiaojian, at 28 years is just past the ideal marriage age here, it seemed like a perfect solution. “My parents asked me to get married, so I have to. I cannot make them upset,” he says. “Even though I don’t agree with them, I cannot challenge them. ” His decision comes after years of family strife and personal angst. Xiaojian’s aunt, a surgeon in a prestigious Beijing hospital, once questioned his sexual orientation and dragged him to a mental hospital to take a test to make sure he was not “abnormal.”

One night, during the Spring Festival in February, he banged his head into a wall in a dramatic protest against his parents’ pressure to marry. His extreme reaction won him a brief respite, but they soon resumed their nagging about his bachelorhood. Coming out of the closet is, as might be expected, not an option for Xiaojian, who asked that his full name not be used. “Either my father or my mother would die,” he says. “They cannot accept the fact that their son is the only freak in the village.”

The pressure to marry is greater in rural areas, such as in Xiaojian’s home village on the outskirts of Beijing, where his relatives and neighbors keep close watch. Stay single too long, and gossip begins to spread about possible physical or mental disabilities. Constant questioning ensues. For some jobs, such as in the military and civil service, marriage is a requirement for promotion. Adding to the pressure to obey, many young adults rely on their parents for financial support. The average Beijing salary of 3,700 yuan (about $550) is barely enough to live on in the increasingly expensive capital.

That is the problem facing Ling Yu, a project officer for homosexuality at the Aizhixing Institute, an AIDS prevention and awareness grassroots nongovernmental organization based in Beijing. Though he has helped many other gay men and women protect their rights, he acknowledges that he may end up in a xingshi marriage. He earns 3,000 yuan ($440) a month. “People in China don’t have any security. If I lose my job, I cannot survive," he explains. “If that happened, I would have to rely on my parents to support me, forget about buying an apartment. So it is not practical to challenge my parents.”

Read Article

April 28, 2010 – PinkNews

16
China lifts ban on HIV-positive visitors

by Jessica Geen
The Chinese government has announced it has overturned the ban on HIV-positive visitors entering the country. The ban was introduced in 1989, although China has temporarily lifted it for major events in the past, such as the1990 Beijing Asian Games and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The news was announced in a statement on a government website yesterday and the change also applies to sufferers of leprosy. China follows the US, which overturned its ban on HIV-positive visitors in January.

The change means that now, entry is barred only to people with infectious tuberculosis, serious mental disorders and “infectious diseases which could possibly greatly harm the public health.” The World Health Organisation welcomed the move.

Dr Margaret Chan, WHO director-general, said: "This decision should inspire other nations to change laws and policies that continue to discriminate against people living with HIV. "Many policies that discriminate against people living with HIV were enacted at a time when AIDS was surrounded by widespread fear and hopelessness. With HIV prevention and treatment now saving millions of lives, this is no longer the case. Policies that help curb discrimination can help prevent further transmission," she said.

America’s 22-year-old law was one of the most restrictive immigration policies in the world for people with HIV. When US president Barack Obama lifted the ban, he described the law as a "decision rooted in fear rather than fact".

May 10, 2010 – The New York Times

16a
AIDS Activist Leaves China for U.S., Citing Pressure

by Edward Wong
Beijing — The founder of a prominent AIDS activist group in Beijing has left China for the United States with his family because of increasing pressure from the government, he and his supporters said Monday. The activist, Wan Yanhai, his wife and their 4-year-old daughter spent the weekend at the home of a friend in Philadelphia after flying from Hong Kong on Thursday. In recent months, the group that Mr. Wan led, the Aizhixing Institute, had come under increasing scrutiny from tax officials and even the fire department, he said.

“The Chinese government made it impossible for Wan Yanhai to remain in China,” said Kate Krauss, the friend in Philadelphia and the director of the AIDS Policy Project, which advocates for more research into a cure for AIDS. Mr. Wan said in a telephone interview, “We were getting a lot of attention from different government agencies.” He added: “When I work in China, they can really find a target to attack. When I left, they no longer had a target.” Mr. Wan is arguably the most outspoken AIDS campaigner in China. He founded Aizhixing in 1994 to support the cause of AIDS awareness and prevention. At the time, the Chinese government was reluctant to speak publicly about AIDS.

Mr. Wan helped turn an international spotlight on villages in Henan Province where residents had become infected with H.I.V. in the 1990s because of poor government oversight of blood transfusions. He was detained for four weeks in 2002 because of that advocacy. Although Mr. Wan and his group had come under pressure before, the latest scrutiny coincides with a wider crackdown on civil society groups and grass-roots organizations that operate independently of the government. The authorities have been especially wary of groups that receive any financing from abroad and have imposed new restrictions on such financing.

On Monday, a man named Lei Yang answered the telephone at the Aizhixing office in Beijing and said the group was still working. When asked about Mr. Wan, he said, “I am not aware of this situation.” Ms. Krauss said Mr. Wan had told her how officials from several government departments in Beijing had made recent visits to the Aizhixing office. The tax officials who arrived were from a municipal authority, which was unusual, Ms. Krauss said. Fire department officials entered the office to see whether the office was complying with fire safety codes, she said.

“I wonder if it’s a way to expel him without publicity,” said Ms. Krauss, who advocated for Mr. Wan’s release when he was detained during the four-week period. The Chinese government has used administrative pressure to shut down civil society groups in the past year. One notable case occurred in July 2009, when tax officials scrutinized foreign financing that was supporting Gongmeng, a legal research organization in Beijing. Gongmeng, or Open Constitution Initiative, had been taking on controversial legal cases and openly questioning central government policy, and it was forced to shut down after the investigation by the tax officials and after one of its leading members, Xu Zhiyong, was detained. Mr. Xu was later released.

Zhang Jing contributed research.

11 May 2010 – Retrovirology

16b
Men who have sex with men(MSM) and HIV epidemic in China: a web-based study on MSM

by Jianmin Xing and Konglai Zhang
from 16th International Symposium on HIV and Emerging Infectious Diseases
Marseille, France. 24-26 March 2010

The electronic version of this abstract is the complete one and can be found online

Background
To explore MSM population’s contribution to HIV epidemic in China through learning AIDS-related knowledge, attitude and behavior among the hidden population-MSM.

Methods
A web-based cross-sectional study on MSM population, recruiting Men who had sex with men in the previous 3 years in mainland of China through a variety of available ways, such as Internet, mass media etc. and collecting data by online questionnaires and in-depth interview through chat-software QQ or MSN.

Results
A total of 5710 eligible participants from 30 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) except Tibet, and 97.2% aged between 18 and 44 yrs, 63.3% thinking that they are likely to be infected by HIV, and 88.7% knowing counseling hotline on HIV whereas only 8.1% of them dialed, and 59.8% knowing at least one site for HIV test whereas of which 40.1% did, and the number increasing year by year, and in the past 6 months,90.3% dating male partners via Internet, and 87.3% having sex with men and 18.1% with both men and women and 12.8% reporting STD-related symptoms. Of 5442 participants, 99.6% told one could be infected HIV through anal sex with HIV cases and 90.3% through oral sex, and 95.0% knew it was more easily infected HIV having unprotected sex with more men. Among 4916 participants who had sex with men, 67.2% had more than one male partner. The proportions of 100% condom use when having anal sex with fixed partners, occasional partners, Money-Boys and customers in the past 6 months were 30.0%, 42.7%, 66.7%, 57.9%, respectively; when having oral sex were 7.0%, 8.8%, 6.2%, 4.4%, respectively. The proportion of 100% using waterbased lubricants was 45.8%.
Discussion

Most of MSM are at risk for HIV/STD infection. With increasing HIV prevalence in MSM population, MSM population would make a strong impact on HIV epidemic in China.

18 May 2010 – Fridae

17
British Embassy and LGBT awareness group mark IDAHO in Beijing

by News Editor
The British Embassy and Queer Comrades, a Beijing-based LGBT awareness group, marked International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia with an event and debut of a short documentary, The Story of Mr Gay China, following the cancellation of China’s first gay beauty pageant.

China-based Global Times reports on May 18:
An event celebrating an "International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia" (IDAHO) was held last night at Beijing’s Café Copy in the Today Art Gallery, and was organized by the British Embassy and Queer Comrades, a Beijing-based LGBT awareness group. "We are delighted that the embassy could support this evening’s event," said Chris Wood, deputy British ambassador to China. "Human rights apply to all people, regardless of sexual orientation."

The deputy ambassador went on to explain that IDAHO events separate themselves from other LGBT events by focusing on issues of discrimination, rather than focusing on individuals being able to find happiness with who they really are. Held annually in more than 50 countries worldwide, IDAHO seeks to promote an "ideal of a world without homophobia or transphobia," according to a notice on the organization’s official website.

Last night’s event also saw the debut of a short documentary produced by Queer Comrades, The Story of Mr Gay China, which provided an in-depth look at the events leading up to the cancellation of China’s first gay beauty pageant. Speaking at the conclusion of the film, Xiao Geng, one of the film’s producers and co-founder of Queer Comrades, told attendees that the documentary was made to bring awareness to issues facing China’s LGBT community.

For the full story in Global Times, click here.

18 May 2010 – Fridae

18
Great Global Kiss-in Shanghai

by News Editor
Shanghai is the only city in Asia to mark IDAHO with a Kiss-in event.

Dozens of people – gay, straight, bisexual and transgender – gathered on a rooftop overlooking Shanghai’s Bund waterfront on Sunday night as part of The Great Global Kiss-in, an official project by the Committee for the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) and Gays.com. Shanghai was the only Asian city out of about 60 cities around the world to take part in the Great Global Kiss-in.

Click here to see more photos.

May 2010 – The Berkeley Electonic Press

19
Behavioral Features of Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) in Harbin, China

Houlin Tang, National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, Peoples’ Republic of China
Weidong Zhang, Office for Disease Control and Emergency Response, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
Fan Lv, National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, Peoples’ Republic of China

Abstract
Background: Incidence of homosexuality has been underestimated in China. This study was intended to investigate behavioral features of men having sex with men (MSM) practicing different sexual orientations, and to explore their contribution to the transmission of HIV/AIDS for the effective prevention and intervention measures.

Methods: A standardized questionnaire was used to interview 673 MSM in the Harbin city, Heilongjiang province, from June to July in 2006. The information was used to characterize the sexual orientation and behavioral of the MSM.

Results: The prevalence of homosexual and bisexual men among MSM were 78.9% and 16.7%, respectively. The rate of receptive anal intercourse was higher among homosexual men (?2 = 18.5, p<0.001), while the rate of inserting anal intercourse was higher among bisexual men (?2 = 18.4, p<0.001). A total of 59.7% of MSM searched for sexual partners on the internet; 1.7% of MSM reported having experience with drug use; and 13.1% of them reported having received an HIV antibody test.

Conclusion: The incidence of MSM who also engage in sex with female partners is very high. MSM, including both with homosexual and bisexual orientations, may serve as a contributing factor to transmit HIV from the high risk population to lower risk populations in the presence of unprotected sex.
Recommended Citation

Tang, Houlin; Zhang, Weidong; and Lv, Fan (2010) "Behavioral Features of Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) in Harbin, China," World Medical & Health Policy: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 18.
DOI: 10.2202/1948-4682.1026
Available Here

Gay China News & Reports 2010 Jan-May

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