Chinese Gay Pageant Closed

Five days ago it was being reported as a breakthrough in acceptance for Gay people in China.

Homosexuality was classified as a mental illness by the Chinese until 2001.

But as the happy news spread across the web of such a turning point, the Chinese police cancelled the pageant.

Eight men were competing for the title and a place in the Worldwide Mr Gay pageant, to be held next month in Oslo, Norway.

Some of China’s most prominent gays had been due to attend the event among a carefully invited audience at the black-walled club designed by Philippe Starck.

The eight contestants were in make-up when the group of uniformed police marched into the club.

The pageant organiser Ben Zhang tried in vain to negotiate a reprieve.

He said: “They said the content, meaning homosexuality, there was nothing wrong with that, but you did not do things according to procedures.”

TimesOnline

Several of China’s most prominent English language newspapers carried stories describing how the pageant showed a new tolerance about homosexuality.

One popular news website ran a survey on how many supported the first such event for the country’s estimated 30 million homosexuals. The survey showed more than 1,000 approved and just over 300 disapproved.

The police claimed the reason for the cancellation was due to there being no approval for a stage show. Organisers had feared that too much media attention would mean the Chinese authorities would act against them.