Chinese mature gay
My three weddings: Life as a gay man in China
A cruise ship leaves Shanghai for a mass wedding of gay couples in defiance of China's laws and social norms. Foreign Correspondent is on board to film the event.
One of the organisers is Shanghai activist and businessman Rongfeng Duan. This is his story.
As the traditional Chinese wedding anthem begins, I choke endorse tears and recall three marriages — all very different, all landmarks in my life.
I first met Li online. It was the early s.
Back then there were no gay dating apps, so I used to examine the BBS student website.
That's where I saw photos of handsome Li. I added him as a friend on the Chinese chatting app QQ, and we started to discuss online.
Maybe I touched an emotional chord when I said goodnight one day. Anyway, Li gave me his phone number.
I called him the next evening. We talked for four hours — the longest phone call I ever had in my experience. Our relationship was confirmed.
I was in Shanghai. Li was in Sichuan province, about 2, kilometres apart.
In two years of long-distance romance, we could only meet during holidays. We wrote more than adore letters to each other.
To save for travel expenses and
"Da Bao" and "Xiao Bao" celebrate their wedding in Beijing on January Photo: CFP
An elderly male lover couple in Beijing hold tested the Chinese public's sensibilities toward homosexuality after they live-twittered their wedding on January The wedding was not sanctioned by the State, but a personal ceremony.
Inspired by the Hong Kong Big Devote campaign, the couple, a retired history teacher who calls himself Da Bao ("big treasure"), and a bottled water delivery guy known as Xiao Bao, ("small treasure"), posted their wedding pictures, intimate snapshots and videos on Weibo, China's version of Twitter. They soon have gathered over 12, fans and received tons of blessings, as well as some criticisms.
"There is nothing wrong with two elderly people falling into love," the couple posted. "If even two old men are brave enough to love, what are you young people waiting for?"
However, it was not long before Da Bao's unwanted drama entered their lives. Da Bao's son, from his first marriage to a woman, came to the wedding to humiliate the couple, boot over tables and strike the guests.
"It's disappointing that outsiders can protect us but not my own son. This heartless child is sabot
Like many other queer men in China, year-old Qu Bizhi, who lives in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou has lived a suppressed existence all his life. He had a wife, whom he married under thick social pressure, but the two might as adequately be strangers even though they lived under one roof for 30 years.
Qu found he was attracted to the similar sex as early as his childhood. While all the other boys gathered together to talk about girls, he preferred to sit in the corner looking at handsome men.
In his early teens, Qu couldn't deny his feelings any longer. He began to go to a local park, well-known for being a gathering place for gay men. He would sit on a bench quietly to watch every man passing by and introduce himself recklessly to those who were his type.
He found he liked handsome, mature, bearded men. When he succeeded in starting a conversation, he would sit down next to the man, lean his head on the other man's shoulder, and listened attentively to whatever he talked about.
At age 16, he met a man in his 30s. He was tall and handsome with a prolonged straight nose and an athletic build. The two met on the avenue and fell in adore quickly.
The man often gave Qu candies
"I thought I was a social outcast.
But that changed one night in "
Ashan
Living parallel lives,
One, conforming to society in public.
The other, a secret in his heart.
Now in his 60s, he is part of China’s lost gay generation.
I
It wasn’t just love, it was also an awakening.
“On one night in , the sky had a violet hue. I didn’t realize at first, but I was walking around a popular cruising see. A young man came up to me, his face tender as the deep velvet night.
"He glanced at me and our eyes met, it was as if we common a common heartbeat. He asked my phone number. I gave it to him, and he gave me his. Thinking about it, we were lovely brave. That year, I was 35, and he was Secretly, we had an emotional bond. After I met him, I knew one thing for sure. I was queer, and so was he.
"One year later, it was all over. He was going to marry a woman. There was nothing I could do. But I knew that our love would live on, in my memories.”
Ashan falls silent, his face reddening.
In the early 21st century, the Internet boom provided gay men and women with new ways of reaching out to the gay community, leading to a decline in cruising spots.
In , Ashan left Beij
.