Chinese government opens gay bar
- By 365gay Newswire
11.30.2009
The Advocate reported that the health department of Dali, China has opened a government-funded gay bar in an effort to reach out to China’s increasingly open gay community.
Dali is one of the ten cities with the highest AIDS rates in China.
Same-sex transmission accounts for about one-third of those new HIV infections, according to the minister of health.
The bar will offer sex education and free condoms, as well as companionship to its patrons, said Zhang Jianbo, the founder.
Jianbo hopes that the bar will be a public gathering place for gay men, especially from rural villages, who used to gather in a patch of woods near the historic town, Reuters reported.
And although it is funded by the government, the bar is staffed by volunteers from a local non-government organization for gay men called the Good Friend Center that works to prevent AIDS.
The China View reported that the bar has been financed by public funds to the amount of 120,000 yuan ($17, 576.)
“Some readers think that it’s a waste of taxpayer money, or an indirect endorsement of homosexual behavior,” said the Beijing News in an opinion piece. “They think if there were another way to reach out to the gay community, it wouldn’t be necessary to open a bar.”
The Deputy Director of Health Dali said the city spends 20,000 yuan ($2,929) each year on drug treatment for AIDS. “If our bar succeeds in reducing transmission, our 120,000 yuan will be well-spent.”
For years, China’s gay community has lived in fear of discrimination, forcing many homosexuals to closet themselves and marry women to avoid family and social pressure.
According to the China View, Statistics showed that 48,000 people had been infected with HIV in 2009 and more than 70 percent of new infections were through sexual transmission.
Jianbo said, “We might not even sell beverages in the bar. We will turn the bar into a tribune to offer lectures and training to gay people in order to reduce AIDS infections among them.”
The bar will open tomorrow in honor of World AIDS Day.
