Lesbians, gays gaining acceptance (China Daily) Updated: 2005-10-10 05:59
SHANGHAI: Long a taboo, homosexuality in China is being brought out into the
open.
Lectures for two courses on the subject have packed auditoriums recently at
Shanghai's Fudan University.
Press from London, New York and Atlanta have all reported on the popularity
of homosexual research in China. Some hold that the growing interest in the
issue is a sign that homosexuality is finally being accepted as normal in a
society which previously believed same-sex relationships to be unethical or the
symptom of a mental disorder.
In September, Associate Professor Sun Zhongxin from the Sociology Department
of Fudan University started a course entitled "Homosexual Research." At the same
time, Professor Gao Yanning with Fudan's Institute of Public Health, began
giving social science lectures concerning homosexual health.
Traditionally, courses on sexual sociology, social gender, sexual health and
feminism only included homosexuality as a small segment. Courses devoted to the
issue, rarely, if ever, seen in the country, are a first for Fudan, Sun Zhongxin
said.
According to Professor Gao Yanning, there are misunderstandings about
homosexuality in China. Many Chinese tend to associate gay people with HIV/AIDS
patients. Some patients even refuse to go to hospitals that are believed to have
received HIV/AIDS patients. Gao ascribed the poor understanding of homosexuality
and HIV/AIDS to limited education.
Professor Gao said, "Through our courses, we hope to help such people change
their mentality, begin to see the world from varying perspectives and take a
more tolerant attitude toward the outside world."
Official statistics suggest there are approximately 30 million homosexuals on
the mainland, but few are willing to acknowledge their sexuality.
On the mainland, 80 to 90 per cent of homosexuals are prepared to marry or
have married the opposite sex. In Western nations, the proportion is only 10 per
cent, Gao said.
"In comparison with their predecessors, who often felt guilt, the current
generation of homosexual people in China is more eager for freedom and
happiness," Gao said.
Most homosexuals are under pressure from their family members rather than
from society, Gao said.
Most of those who choose to "come out" about their homosexuality are only
children, Gao said, and their families prefer to tolerate their sexual
orientation rather than lose them.
Sun Zhongxin said some homosexuals have made public their sexual orientation
just because they have a higher social status and thus enjoy more tolerance in
society.
In 2001, China published a third version of its classification and diagnosis
criteria of mental disorders, excluding homosexuality from the list.
(China Daily 10/10/2005 page2)
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