BEIJING, Oct. 10-- Long a taboo, homosexuality in China is being brought out into the open.

Lectures for two courses on the subject have packed auditoriums recently at Shanghai's Fudan University.

Press from London, New York and Atlanta have all reported on the popularity of homosexual research in China. Some hold that the growing interest in the issue is a sign that homosexuality is finally being accepted as normal in a society which previously believed same-sex relationships to be unethical or the symptom of a mental disorder.

In September, Associate Professor Sun Zhongxin from the Sociology Department of Fudan University started a course entitled"Homosexual Research." At the same time, Professor Gao Yanning with Fudan's Institute of Public Health, began giving social science lectures concerning homosexual health.

Traditionally, courses on sexual sociology, social gender, sexual health and feminism only included homosexuality as a small segment. Courses devoted to the issue, rarely, if ever, seen in the country, are a first for Fudan, Sun Zhongxin said.

According to Professor Gao Yanning, there are misunderstandings about homosexuality in China. Many Chinese tend to associate gay people with HIV/AIDS patients. Some patients even refuse to go to hospitals that are believed to have received HIV/AIDS patients. Gao ascribed the poor understanding of homosexuality and HIV/AIDS to limited education.

Professor Gao said,"Through our courses, we hope to help such people change their mentality, begin to see the world from varying perspectives and take a more tolerant attitude toward the outside world."

Official statistics suggest there are approximately 30 million homosexuals on the mainland, but few are willing to acknowledge their sexuality.

On the mainland, 80 to 90 per cent of homosexuals are prepared to marry or have married the opposite sex. In Western nations, the proportion is only 10 per cent, Gao said.

"In comparison with their predecessors, who often felt guilt, the current generation of homosexual people in China is more eager for freedom and happiness," Gao said.

Most homosexuals are under pressure from their family members rather than from society, Gao said.

Most of those who choose to"come out" about their homosexuality are only children, Gao said, and their families prefer to tolerate their sexual orientation rather than lose them.

Sun Zhongxin said some homosexuals have made public their sexual orientation just because they have a higher social status and thus enjoy more tolerance in society.

In 2001, China published a third version of its classification and diagnosis criteria of mental disorders, excluding homosexuality from the list.Enditem

(Source: China Daily)