- Title: CHINA: Chinese gays and lesbians come out for Valentine's day
- Date: 14th February 2009
- Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (FEBRUARY 14, 2008) (REUTERS) YOUNG WOMEN IN BRIDAL GOWNS WITH HEADS TOGETHER POSING FOR PHOTO WOMEN KISSING PEOPLE WATCHING WOMEN POSING WOMEN'S FACES AS THEY POSE MAN WATCHING ONE WOMAN KISSING THE OTHER ON THE CHEEK SEATED ON BENCH PEOPLE'S FACES AS THEY WATCH (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 24-YEAR-OLD STUDENT, DANA SAYING: "A lot of people around me don't see t
- Embargoed: 1st March 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: China
- Country: China
- Topics: Lifestyle
- Reuters ID: LVAEMRBLD13QPRT8JLSCAB9G9OP3
- Story Text: Chinese gays and lesbians took to the streets of Beijing on Saturday (February 14), hoping that the spirit of Valentine's day would help them win acceptance and support for same-sex marriage.
Dressed up in wedding gowns and suits, two young lesbians and two gay men posed for mock wedding photos in front of a curious crowd, drawing gasps, smiles and the occasional scowl.
Around thirty gay men and lesbians came out together to newly reconstructed Qianmen street in the heart of Beijing, while similar events took place in the cities of Shanghai, Chengdu and Kunming.
The brides, who went by the names of Dana and Cinderella, are not a couple but were happy to kiss for the camera in the name of progress.
Same-sex marriage and civil partnerships are forbidden in China, and seem a long way off in a country where for many homosexuality is still an virtual unknown.
For Dana, a twenty-four-year-old student, just letting the crowd know that gay people walked among them was an important step in itself.
"A lot of people around me don't see the gay community. They don't even know there are any of us around. They think we are very seductive and strange. I hope that through today's event I want to tell everyone that there are a lot of us around them, they just can't see us, and that we are the same as everyone else," Dana said.
Despite increasing public tolerance, homosexuality is rarely mentioned in mainstream media on the mainland, while neighbouring Taiwan has one of Asia's most thriving and open gay communities.
Zhang Yi wasn't holding his breath for a change in the law just yet.
"I think that coming here and taking these wedding photos is for fun and a chance for everyone to come into contact with and understand us. But everything needs time, and perhaps the question of legalised same-sex marriage will only be resolved when we're old, but that's OK. We'll just have to make more of an effort to tell the people around us," Zhang Yi said.
Under Chairman Mao many homosexuals were persecuted, and public disapproval and regular crackdowns on gay meeting places continued well after his death.
Traditional pressure to raise a family also helped to keep much of China's gay community firmly in the closet.
However, with the decriminalisation of sex between men in 1997 and the removal of homosexuality from the official list of mental illnesses in 2001, China's gay community has begun to tiptoe out into the open.
Thanks to current authorities' comparatively relaxed stance, big cities like Beijing and Shanghai now have small but increasingly confident gay scenes, with a growing number of exclusively gay and gay friendly clubs.
An explosion in internet use has also created a platform for once isolated individuals to meet, and gay websites and blogs, though sometimes censored by authorities, have flourished.
However, China's communist government does not allow citizens to form organisations outside of its control, and gay groups often operate covertly through approved AIDS organisations.
The blushing brides, grooms, and friends also handed out roses to passers by on Saturday, each with a piece of pink paper asking for support for same-sex marriage rapped around its stem.
Nineteen-year-old student Cheng Xiaojiao didn't have to think twice about supporting gay unions.
"They're all just people who love each other, and all that's important is that they're happy together. I see no problem. I already have a lot of friends and acquaintances like them. We shouldn't judge them, everyone has their own way of life," she said.
Legal worker Jia Junfeng, on the other hand, was still unable to accept same-sex marriage.
"I personally do not support this kind of marriage, because I think it's is in conflict with Chinese morality."
China's Disease Control Centre estimated in 2006 that China had 5 - 10 million gay men, though for the same year Zhang Beichuan, a professor at Qingdao University, put the total figure for homosexuals at around 30 million, of which 20 million were men and 10 million women.
China's gays and lesbians will have to wait for the right to tie the knot, but with their sites set on the kind of acceptance enjoyed in some Western countries, they may be unlikely to stop asking.
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