Long a stigma, homosexuality in China is drawing more attention.

Lectures for two courses on the subject have packed auditoriums recently at the elite Fudan University here in this largest metropolis of eastern China.

Media from both home and abroad, including from London, New York and Atlanta, have been paying attention to the popularity of homosexual research in China. Some of them hold that the growing interest in the issue is a sign that homosexuality is finally being accepted as normal in a society which was previously thought to be unethical or the symptom of a mental disorder.

In September, Associate Professor Sun Zhongxin from the Sciology Department of Fudan University started a course entitled "Homosexual Research", and Professor Gao Yanning with the Fudan's Institute of Public Health, began giving lectures on social science concerning homosexual health.

Traditionally, courses on sexual sociology, social gender, sexual health and on feminism only included homosexuality as a tangent. Courses devoted to the issue, seldom seen in the country, are a first in the university, Sun Zhongxin said.

According to Prof. Gao Yanning, there is misunderstanding 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 publicity.

Prof. 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."

READY TO TERMINATE HOMOSEXUAL STIGMATIZATION ?

Official statistics show that there are approximately 30 million homosexuals on the Chinese mainland, but few are willing to acknowledge they are gay or lesbian.

In China, homosexuals are thought to have two "capacities", and they need to use one capacity, which is acceptable to the outside world, to cover-up the other.

On the mainland, 80 to 90 percent of homosexuals are ready to marry or have married the opposite sex. In Western nations, the proportion is only 10 percent, 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.

As a matter of fact, most homosexuals are under pressure from their family members rather than from society, Gao said.

Most of those who chose to make public their homosexuality are only children, Gao acknowledged, and their families prefer to tolerate their sexual orientation rather than lose them.

"From my point of view, this attitude represents a some sort of progress, implying that Chinese society has begun to be more concessional than prejudiced towards homosexuality," Gao said.

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.

UNDERSTANDING ENVIRONMENT NEEDED FOR HOMOSEXUALS

In 2001, China published a third version of its classification and diagnosis criteria of mental disorders, excluding homosexuality from the list of psychiatric disorders.

Sun said, "After all, sexual orientation is only one of a range of capacities a person bears."

"A homosexual person may face his or her sexual capacity calmly and confidently as long as he/she deals with other capacities well," he added.

Prof. Gao Yanning said it is essential for homosexual people to live in a more harmonious and more tolerant society.

Gao cited Zhihe Society in Fudan University, which is a campus society tailored to homosexuality and feminism. Most members of the society are homosexual. Their sexual capacity and activities related to their society have been accepted by most of teachers and students on the campus. Gao viewed the acceptance as a trend in social development.

"We do not wish to change the world through several academic courses. However, we can help the outside world know more about homosexuals," Gao said.

(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2005)