This is a subject I find rather fascinating, as can be seen from this previous post on gay men marrying heterosexual women in China.  Today I was again reminded of this sad occurrence by the Economist magazine, which published a short article on the subject.  Worth a read if you’re interested.

It is estimated that 15-20% of gay men in America marry heterosexual women. But Liu Dalin, a pioneering sexologist now retired from the University of Shanghai, has put the share in China at 90%. If so, the number of tongqi in China may be as high as 25m.

Last week I joined 飞赞 (Fei Zan), a kind of Facebook for gay men in China.  Shanghai’s City Weekend LGBeat blog recently published a nice introduction to the service.  One of the fascinating things about it is that is entirely geared towards gay men in China (the site is only in Chinese), which these days are often only open about their sexuality online.  So on top of the usual information you would find on a social networking site 飞赞 also asks you to share whether or not you are closeted, what role you play during sex, and the state of your body hair.  They also ask whether or not you plan on getting married (是否结婚).  As a gay guy from Massachusetts my answer would normally be a definitive yes, but since this is China saying you plan on getting married is akin to saying you will never be completely open about your sexuality and that you and some poor woman will live a sexless life together.  So in these circumstances I put down that I do not plan on getting married, a assertion that I will have open relationships with men, but from what I’ve seen on the site I am the only one that thinks this way.