It was a childhood exploration of his primary school's girls' restroom that guided Chen Longxi to Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, where he spoke as one of two Chinese representatives at the 2013 Women Deliver Conference in late May.

There was also the rash on his genitals in his teens - it turned out to be nothing - that inspired the 25-year-old to devote himself to sexual education since 2006. He tells these stories to emphasize the importance of being open enough to talk publicly about so-called private parts.

"Our parents' generation and those born in the 1980s lack sexual education," says the program officer for Marie Stopes International China, a global NGO that addresses sexual and reproductive issues.

"People continue opening up about sex as the country's economy continues opening up. More people are willing to share their feelings about sex and what they want from it."

Chen, who lectures on sex education almost daily, believes society needs to be more tolerant, especially toward the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) communities.

But there are three impediments to expand gender understanding in China - the topic of his 15-minute talk in Kuala Lumpur. Many Chinese have limited gender perspectives, maintain traditional thinking and lack sex education that addresses gender perspectives.

He hails the Ministry of Education's 1994 inclusion of reproductive health education in primary schools' curriculum.

But little has been done since, he believes.

"I saw a news report about Beijing hospitals offering special care for young girls who needed abortions 10 years ago," he says.

"It was a very advanced policy that was later scrapped because of social pressure."

While progress has been slow, it has been made, he explains.

"More Chinese, especially youth, are becoming open to discussing sex," he says.

"But they're still bashful when talking about sensitive issues, such as sexual problems or questions they have about themselves."

Parents remain advancement's biggest obstacle, Chen says.

"If we can't reach an agreement with parents on how much we can teach their children, then we can't have real sexual education because teachers dare not take responsibility."

yangwanli@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/30/2013 page4)