The first report on male homosexuality in China was published last month by the Beijing Gender Health Education Institute.

 

The report, titled MSM in China: Surveying Sex and Self-identity (MSM stands for men having sex with men) and developed from 400 detailed interviews and case studies, probes into the sexual behaviors of the country's male homosexuals.

 

The preface to the report, written by Pan Suiming, director of the Sexual Sociology Institute of Renmin University of China, reads: "The report offers insight into the feelings, sense of identity and expression of China's gay community in the light of different social and cultural backgrounds."

 

The 650,000-word report, written by scholar and writer Tong Ge with the support of the Ford Foundation, comprises 15 chapters, including a comparison of attitudes toward MSM between Chinese and Western societies, aesthetics in MSM, and marriage.

 

Chinese society has, over the years, developed a more open attitude toward the subject of homosexuality. Shanghai's prestigious Fudan University started offering a course on homosexuality last September, the country's first. And Beijing held the country's first-ever homosexual cultural festival last December.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2006)