China: Gay Life Legal, But Still in the Closet

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.

Full Story from USA Today
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