Chinese Women Marrying Gay Men: Report

Though recent years have reportedly brought China's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community a bit more out of the shadows of old, a new report claims that as many as 16 million Chinese women are married to gay men.

One of the nation's authorities on HIV/AIDS, Qingdao University's Zhang Bei-chuan told China Daily that about 90 percent of the nation's gay men get married to heterosexual women in an effort to conform with social norms. As Pink News pointed out, that's roughly three percent of the nation's entire population. "But their wives are struggling to cope and their plight should be recognized," he is quoted by the publication, which is the country's largest English-language newspaper, as saying.

Still, the professor's claims seemed to divide local gay residents. "Zhang's estimation is unsubstantiated and I even feel it's pointless to research the issue," Xiao Dong, a 36-year-old gay man, told the publication. "To put gays' wives under the spotlight might cause more public misunderstanding or even hatred toward the gay population, which does not help defuse existing social discrimination against them."

Yet one 27-year-old gay graduate student begged to differ, saying he would never come out of the closet to his parents. "I may marry a lesbian and we can keep going with our own lifestyle more honestly," he said.

The news seems to conflict with earlier reports that indicated Chinese government officials have been more keen to, if not promote, at least educate residents about gay rights in recent years. Pride celebrations in Hong Kong have drawn an increasing number of participants from mainland China. The Guardian even quoted one forum that reportedly joked that "tong xing," or same-sex, relationships could be the country's answer to its ever-increasingly lopsided boy-to-girl ratio, as it has been estimated that 24 million eligible men will be without spouses.

In 2010, the AFP cited experts who estimated there were about 30 million homosexuals in China, and 20 million of them are men.

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Comments

[ayisha]

05:10 AM on 02/13/2012

this seems to be the norm in many societies (including our own to some extent). i grew up going to church with a few guys who we all knew absolutely were gay, but everyone just adopted a 'let's pretend we don't know it' type attitude. how else do you think we arrive at all the GOP gay-bashers who get outed for the very thing they claim to despise?

[Pointless Agony]

11:25 AM on 02/08/2012

Homosexuals are marrying heterosexual women to keep their dirty little secret. That's selfish.

[taogal1128]

10:17 PM on 02/06/2012

not every couple aborts their baby girls...you make it sound like all of the Chinese do it. in major cities, it's not even common to abort girls anymore--if anything, they're aborting babies because it's unplanned or they're not supposed to have a 2nd or 3rd child unless they can afford or want to pay government taxes for those children. you may be super surprised to find that the Chinese do really like baby girls.

[virginoliveoilisyummy]

08:57 PM on 02/06/2012

This isn't new. Chinese parents have always expected that their gay sons to marry and have children, on the other hand, they don't expect their gay sons to not be gay. What's most important is to do things for the benefit of the family, not for oneself, and at the top of the list is to carry on the family name by having children.

[michelleobamaok]

06:40 PM on 02/06/2012

This article seems to point out that the only people with "rights" in the scenario are the gay men.

The woman has been tricked into marriage, and will also have to abort any girl babies she has.

The point-of-view is completely upside down. Not only does the woman have to suffer the humiliation of an unjust marriage without love-----but she has to kill her children.

[michelleobamaok]

06:31 PM on 02/06/2012

"same-sex, relationships could be the country's answer to its ever-increasingly lopsided boy-to-girl ratio, as it has been estimated that 24 million eligible men will be without spouses. "

WOW! That was pretty harsh, as the above statement seems to be celebrating and making light of the thousands upon thousands of female baby infanticides, which is due to the belief that only males should have power, life, and status. YEAH FOR THE GAYS? Really? Horrific.

[CASnyder]

08:43 AM on 02/06/2012

I don't imagine these women will stay married to the gay men for long if they want children, not when they can have their pick of so many single men because of the gender imbalance.

[Khalvynn X]

05:56 PM on 02/06/2012

It's not impossible for a gay man and a female to make a baby. Especially in the dark.

[thewayoftea4]

11:22 PM on 02/12/2012

So sad - no love no emotion - just make the baby and hope I don't get a disease if he's been messing around. Makes me think I would off myself if I couldn't get out of that country. Better to be alone than in a loveless marriage

[Asanshenu]

04:21 AM on 02/06/2012

@Dav0001- I AM Afro Latino, as well as African American and I was responding directly to Mindy Czech's comment, not writing a book. I apologize for not listing EVERY SINGLE DISENFRANCHISED DEMOGRAPHIC....I am quite aware of the issues in my communities.
I am not an just an angry black man so don't try to discount or dismiss the validity of what I am saying. The fact is, if I WAS just an angry black man I damned well have a good reason to be.
Frankly, people like you irk me because you are afraid to use naked, aggressive language. **** a cliche, they exist because of actual repetitive events and circumstances...
Now, go play in the Castro and get rejected, or something.

[Southern Yankee]

11:01 PM on 02/05/2012

And what about the gay / lesbian women?

[Recalled]

10:25 PM on 02/05/2012

What else is new?

[Doug Watt]

08:50 PM on 02/05/2012

There are still lots of gay men married to straight women in the US, unfortunately. Hopefully, the trend will die out as more people come out.

[Celt Glen]

06:40 AM on 02/05/2012

Not news~

[Bee-otch Wagon]

01:14 AM on 02/05/2012

IS this REALLY under the crime section???

[Progressneeded]

12:46 PM on 02/05/2012

I kind of get it. It is a crime that those poor people have to live a lie so that they could be safe from cruelty and discrimination.

[Bee-otch Wagon]

02:07 PM on 02/05/2012

AH. Now I see....

[MasterKat]

11:19 PM on 02/04/2012

"To put gays' wives under the spotlight might cause more public misunderstanding or even hatred toward the gay population, which does not help defuse existing social discrimination against them."

-- I understand his point, but it really DOES suck for those women. I also find it interesting, however, that this study is aimed at homosexual MEN. But if these wives marry a homosexual man unknowingly, they're also victims of Chinese society's strict cultural norms.

[dav0001]

01:13 AM on 02/05/2012

You're absolutely right. So people know, it happens here in our country as well as everywhere else in the world. It's a shame. My chiropractor married because he wanted to do what was right and be accepted by his family. That's not why a person should marry. People really need to change.

[michelleobamaok]

06:36 PM on 02/06/2012

I find it reprehensible and criminally insane the number of women who not only have to put up the husbands who are tricking them into "marriage" but also subjecting them to abortion after abortion because the baby looks like "her"-----a female. Those poor women.

[MasterKat]

07:23 PM on 02/06/2012

Maybe this is just a stereotype, but I'd assume a gay man would want to have sex with his wife as infrequently as possible and would therefore take whatever popped out.

[iridium53]

04:28 PM on 02/04/2012

At least one U.S. Congresswoman is.

[jkredwine]

03:29 PM on 02/05/2012

ha! subtle but brilliant.