Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WHAT'S IT LIKE TO BE GAY IN BEIJING?
For a foreigner, I would say it is very easy to be gay in Beijing. Chinese society has a
strong sense of avoiding any personal (negative) confrontation, so everyone more or
less minds their own business. I've never witnessed any hatred or bias toward myself
or other gays, nor have I been openly questioned about my sexual preference.
Next to the easiness of Beijing gay life, I think the Beijing gay scene itself has
some very interesting characteristics. Being partly embedded in an expat society
whose members stay mostly on a short-term basis (as in most major world cities), the
gay-scene is also constantly changing, so you can meet new people everywhere you
go. At the same time this society still has a very strong family feeling to it, which
also reflects upon the gay scene.
WHAT'S THE GENERAL LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING OR BELIEFS ABOUT
HOMOSEXUALITY HERE?
Even though the Chinese government deleted homosexuality from its list of mental
illnesses more than 10 years ago now, it is still frowned upon by many locals. It's es-
timated that 80 percent of all gays living in China are still in the closet. Most of them
remain married and live some sort of double life. A major reason for this is that most
Chinese see it as their duty to produce offspring in order to make their parents proud
and to obtain full completion in life.
HOW DO LOCALS REACT WHEN YOU TELL THEM YOU'RE GAY—OR DO YOU KEEP IT
TO YOURSELF IN PUBLIC?
Honestly, Chinese people very rarely inquire about things that are very personal or
emotional. For example, I've often been asked if I have a girlfriend, followed by the
question of if I'm interested in having a Chinese girlfriend. I usually answer that I'm
not interested in Chinese girls, after which there are no further questions asked.
So, you could say that I keep it to myself by dancing around the topic. If someone
did ask me straight up if I were gay, though, I wouldn't have any problem with telling
the truth. But so far this hasn't happened to me (yet) outside of the gay scene.
On the other hand, everyone at my job—including my Chinese col-
leagues—knows that I'm gay, and so far I haven't had any negative remarks, nor
have I noticed any change in their attitude toward me.
