Now it’s become a business issue – and business is something the government understands.” “Whereas just a few years ago anything related to LGBT was viewed as potentially destabilising, the growing number of firms targeting the Pink Market today is something much more understandable to officialdom. “Here in China many companies are starting to see LGBT people as a new market opportunity, without feeling obliged to invest in their welfare,” says Steven Paul Bielinski, founder of China based non-profit platform WorkForLGBT. Meng Fanyu (centre), winner of the first ever Mr Gay China, surrounded by his co-finalists. I’m their whole life – I don’t want to let them down.”Ī survey of those registered with the country’s largest gay dating app, Blued – which has 27 million users – suggested less than 5% were visibly out.
Another adds: “I will never tell my parents that I’m gay. “It’s very hard to do this in China,” says one candidate. Even among the Mr Gay China candidates, surprisingly few are out. But the situation is complex – for many a gay club is still the only place they can express their sexuality. The LGBT community is slowly gaining acceptance in China, especially in cosmopolitan Shanghai, which hosted its eighth Pride festival last month.
“This competition has no links to politics we just focus on creating fun events,” she adds.
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Kate Sun, from organisers Tontou, says they have avoided censure by focusing on core values of “being healthy, positive and energetic”, even offering free HIV tests at the club. A previous attempt to hold the competition in 2010 was shut down by the authorities, but in 2016 the event met with zero resistance.