China to broadcast first gay chat show online
Internet users in China will be able to watch the country’s first specialized gay chat show online adult personals on Thursday, according to the show’s producer. Homosexuality was listed as a mental illness in China until 2001.
The weekly 12 episode show, produced by Hong Kong-listed broadcaster Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings, will feature gay presenters discussing issues related to gay people, and be accessible to 130 million people through large Chinese web portals, Gang Gang, the show’s producer, told Reuters.
"China’s biggest web portals like Sina.com, Mop.com, PPLive and Tencent will broadcast the show live along with Phoenix," Gang said.” They will have the same content," Gang Gang added.
During Mao Zedong’s era, homosexuals were persecuted and prison terms and death sentences meted out. China generally is becoming more tolerant, but homosexuals remain under heavy pressure within traditional families.
The show’s title - Tongxing Xianglian - is a play on words of a Chinese idiom, meaning "people with the same affliction sympathise with each other”. It will feature openly gay presenters and provide a forum for gay people "to get in touch with each other and communicate", Gang said.
"This a good time for this kind of communication," Gang said.” In a lot of major Chinese cities, gay people are playing sports, swimming, working out, singing karaoke - they are getting together in all types of activities."
Gang said homosexuality was still a sensitive topic in China.” We can’t deny that this circle of people has received a lot of pressure. But this mainly comes from a lack of understanding.
"We hope that after this show airs, homosexuality will no longer be an issue, that society will be more enlightened about it, more understanding and more tolerant."
Source: http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/china-to-broadcast-first-gay-chat-show-online/2007/04/03/1175366244228.html
