Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07CHENGDU19
2007-01-22 05:46:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Chengdu
Cable title:  

GAY AND LESBIAN CHENGDU

Tags:  SOCI EAID PGOV PHUM SCUL TBIO CH 
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VZCZCXRO3966
RR RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHCN #0019/01 0220546
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 220546Z JAN 07
FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2360
INFO RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 2847
RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENGDU 000019 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
STATE FOR EAP/CM, DRL/IRF AND G/STC
BANGKOK FOR USAID/MSTIEVATER AND SKISSINGER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 1/22/2027
TAGS: SOCI EAID PGOV PHUM SCUL TBIO CH
SUBJECT: GAY AND LESBIAN CHENGDU

REF: 05 CHENGDU 620

CHENGDU 00000019 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: James Boughner, Acting Consul General, Chengdu,
Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENGDU 000019

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
STATE FOR EAP/CM, DRL/IRF AND G/STC
BANGKOK FOR USAID/MSTIEVATER AND SKISSINGER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 1/22/2027
TAGS: SOCI EAID PGOV PHUM SCUL TBIO CH
SUBJECT: GAY AND LESBIAN CHENGDU

REF: 05 CHENGDU 620

CHENGDU 00000019 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: James Boughner, Acting Consul General, Chengdu,
Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) Summary. Although Chengdu has been nicknamed "gay
paradise," gays here still face considerable challenges, and
official, social, and family pressures are often sufficiently
intense to keep many local gays in the closet. The situation of
lesbians is even more difficult, perhaps due to higher family
pressures on young women. Nevertheless, local organizations
provide much-needed emotional and psychological support, and the
city boasts an active gay and lesbian bar scene. The Consulate
is working with one organization to provide AIDS prevention
education. End summary.

-------------- --------------
A VISIT TO A GAY SUPPORT GROUP
-------------- --------------


2. (C) Congenoff recently attended a meeting and party at the
Chengdu Young Homosexuals' Activity Center, a facility operated
by the Chengdu affiliate of the Beijing-based Aibai
organization. Also attending were Aibai Chengdu co-founder
Jiang Hua (strictly protect),who had invited Congenoff to the
meeting, and about 50 to 60 men. The Center is located in a
large walk-up apartment in a downmarket neighborhood of Chengdu,
and only small signs at the bottom of the stairway indicated its
existence.


3. (C) As an icebreaker, the master of ceremonies asked each of
the attendees to stand and state his age, occupation, and sexual
orientation. Almost all of the attendees were between 16 and 25
years of age, and most were students or recent college
graduates. About a third identified themselves as bisexual,
while the remainder stated they were exclusively gay. After the
introductions were over, the attendees played various
Chinese-style games, in which the loser was required to stand

and perform some song or act out an assigned role, to the great
amusement of the audience. Attendees then mingled informally.


4. (C) Asked about official attitudes toward Aibai Chengdu and
the Activity Center, Jiang Hua acknowledged that, as an
unlicensed organization, the Center faced occasional harassment
from police. He said several officers had stopped by recently to
ask about the organization, and whether the Center had obtained
the official approvals necessary to operate. Jiang Hua said the
members told the police (falsely) that the Center was affiliated
with the Bureau of Health, and this seemed to satisfy them at
least temporarily. He also stated that, while the Center often
posted photographs of its activities on its website, faces of
participants were often blanked out to preserve their anonymity.
Another participant volunteered the information that several
Aibai members also belonged to the Chinese Communist Party, but
were unable to declare their sexual orientation openly. (Note:
Jiang Hua said he was a Party member as well. End note.)


5. (C) Several participants agreed that Chengdu was a relative
"bright spot" for gays in China, with several support
organizations, lots of gay bars, and a local culture that was
more easygoing and tolerant than other areas of China. Asked
about the reasons for this, one attendee volunteered the opinion
that the city was historically a target of migration from other
parts of China, and that many gays had left their home areas to
move there. Others pointed to the city's reputation for leisure
and its well-developed nightlife. Asked why all the attendees
were male, participants' responses ranged from "China has very
few lesbians" to "lesbians don't feel comfortable coming here
and openly declaring their orientation."


6. (C) Jiang Hua (who is a third year surgical resident) stated
he was deeply concerned over the threat to the gay and lesbian
community from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). In
particular, he claimed the incidence of HIV/AIDS in China was on
the verge of "exploding," and he also noted with concern recent
media reports about the alarming rise of syphilis in China.
(Note: Jiang Hua may have been referring to recent data from the
China Center for Disease Control (CDC) on the rate of HIV
infection among MSM (men who have sex with men),and to a recent
report in the British medical magazine "Lancet" on the rise of
syphilis in China. Consulate Health Unit personnel have
volunteered to address the Chengdu Aibai group on the dangers of
STDs. End note.)

--------------
A LESBIAN BAR
--------------

CHENGDU 00000019 002.2 OF 002




7. (C) After the Aibai event, Congenoff visited a lesbian bar,
in the company of Jiang Hua, his partner, and an American
lesbian. The bar was located in an area full of other bars,
teahouses, and discos, but bore no sign in Chinese - only a
small neon sign with the word "Love" in English. Although the
bar was small, it was packed with at least 60-70 women. Most
were stylishly dressed, and appeared to be in their 20s and 30s.
Conversation was very animated, with one table participating in
a drinking game, another in a kissing game. In the back,
couples engaged in more intimate contact.


8. (C) The manager of the bar (who did not give her name) told
Congenoff the establishment had been in business for over five
years, and was currently the oldest bar in Chengdu catering to
lesbians. She said it was now the smallest such establishment
in the city, and that several other larger lesbian bars existed,
offering music and dancing.


9. (C) The manager acknowledged (and Congenoff's gay companions
agreed wholeheartedly) that the position of lesbians in Chengdu
was much more difficult that that of gay men. She said it was
much easier for men to move out of their parents' houses and
live together without causing suspicion. In addition, she
claimed young women faced intense pressure from their families
to get married - "if they tell them they're lesbian, their
parents say they're just going through a phase" - and that many
of her customers were married women. All agreed the situation
was even more difficult for lesbians in rural communities, and
that family pressures often played a role in decisions to
migrate to urban areas.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


10. (C) Even though gays and lesbians in Chengdu may enjoy a
more tolerant atmosphere than in some other areas of China, the
community still remains largely hidden from the city's
"mainstream" society: witness the lack of signs outside
advertising the existence of the Activity Center and of the
lesbian bar. As a result, pressures on gays and lesbians to
keep their orientation secret remain high, and one unfortunate
effect may be a lack of knowledge about the transmission and
prevention of STDs. Post will continue its health-education
outreach efforts to the gay and lesbian community in Chengdu.
BOUGHNER