VZCZCXRO3966
RR RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHCN #0019/01 0220546
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 220546Z JAN 07
FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2360
INFO RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 2847
RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENGDU 000019 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR EAP/CM, DRL/IRF AND G/STC 
BANGKOK FOR USAID/MSTIEVATER AND SKISSINGER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  1/22/2027 
TAGS: SOCI EAID PGOV PHUM SCUL TBIO CH
SUBJECT: GAY AND LESBIAN CHENGDU 
 
REF: 05 CHENGDU 620 
 
CHENGDU 00000019  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: James Boughner, Acting Consul General, Chengdu, 
Department of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1. (C) Summary.  Although Chengdu has been nicknamed "gay 
paradise," gays here still face considerable challenges, and 
official, social, and family pressures are often sufficiently 
intense to keep many local gays in the closet.  The situation of 
lesbians is even more difficult, perhaps due to higher family 
pressures on young women.  Nevertheless, local organizations 
provide much-needed emotional and psychological support, and the 
city boasts an active gay and lesbian bar scene.  The Consulate 
is working with one organization to provide AIDS prevention 
education.  End summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
A VISIT TO A GAY SUPPORT GROUP 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶2. (C) Congenoff recently attended a meeting and party at the 
Chengdu Young Homosexuals' Activity Center, a facility operated 
by the Chengdu affiliate of the Beijing-based Aibai 
organization.  Also attending were Aibai Chengdu co-founder 
Jiang Hua (strictly protect), who had invited Congenoff to the 
meeting, and about 50 to 60 men.  The Center is located in a 
large walk-up apartment in a downmarket neighborhood of Chengdu, 
and only small signs at the bottom of the stairway indicated its 
existence. 
 
¶3. (C) As an icebreaker, the master of ceremonies asked each of 
the attendees to stand and state his age, occupation, and sexual 
orientation.  Almost all of the attendees were between 16 and 25 
years of age, and most were students or recent college 
graduates.  About a third identified themselves as bisexual, 
while the remainder stated they were exclusively gay.  After the 
introductions were over, the attendees played various 
Chinese-style games, in which the loser was required to stand 
and perform some song or act out an assigned role, to the great 
amusement of the audience.  Attendees then mingled informally. 
 
¶4. (C) Asked about official attitudes toward Aibai Chengdu and 
the Activity Center, Jiang Hua acknowledged that, as an 
unlicensed organization, the Center faced occasional harassment 
from police. He said several officers had stopped by recently to 
ask about the organization, and whether the Center had obtained 
the official approvals necessary to operate.  Jiang Hua said the 
members told the police (falsely) that the Center was affiliated 
with the Bureau of Health, and this seemed to satisfy them at 
least temporarily.  He also stated that, while the Center often 
posted photographs of its activities on its website, faces of 
participants were often blanked out to preserve their anonymity. 
 Another participant volunteered the information that several 
Aibai members also belonged to the Chinese Communist Party, but 
were unable to declare their sexual orientation openly.  (Note: 
Jiang Hua said he was a Party member as well.  End note.) 
 
¶5. (C) Several participants agreed that Chengdu was a relative 
"bright spot" for gays in China, with several support 
organizations, lots of gay bars, and a local culture that was 
more easygoing and tolerant than other areas of China.  Asked 
about the reasons for this, one attendee volunteered the opinion 
that the city was historically a target of migration from other 
parts of China, and that many gays had left their home areas to 
move there.  Others pointed to the city's reputation for leisure 
and its well-developed nightlife.  Asked why all the attendees 
were male, participants' responses ranged from "China has very 
few lesbians" to "lesbians don't feel comfortable coming here 
and openly declaring their orientation." 
 
¶6. (C) Jiang Hua (who is a third year surgical resident) stated 
he was deeply concerned over the threat to the gay and lesbian 
community from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).  In 
particular, he claimed the incidence of HIV/AIDS in China was on 
the verge of "exploding," and he also noted with concern recent 
media reports about the alarming rise of syphilis in China. 
(Note: Jiang Hua may have been referring to recent data from the 
China Center for Disease Control (CDC) on the rate of HIV 
infection among MSM (men who have sex with men), and to a recent 
report in the British medical magazine "Lancet" on the rise of 
syphilis in China.  Consulate Health Unit personnel have 
volunteered to address the Chengdu Aibai group on the dangers of 
STDs.  End note.) 
 
---------------------- 
A LESBIAN BAR 
---------------------- 
 
CHENGDU 00000019  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7. (C) After the Aibai event, Congenoff visited a lesbian bar, 
in the company of Jiang Hua, his partner, and an American 
lesbian.  The bar was located in an area full of other bars, 
teahouses, and discos, but bore no sign in Chinese - only a 
small neon sign with the word "Love" in English.  Although the 
bar was small, it was packed with at least 60-70 women.  Most 
were stylishly dressed, and appeared to be in their 20s and 30s. 
 Conversation was very animated, with one table participating in 
a drinking game, another in a kissing game.  In the back, 
couples engaged in more intimate contact. 
 
¶8. (C) The manager of the bar (who did not give her name) told 
Congenoff the establishment had been in business for over five 
years, and was currently the oldest bar in Chengdu catering to 
lesbians.  She said it was now the smallest such establishment 
in the city, and that several other larger lesbian bars existed, 
offering music and dancing. 
 
¶9. (C) The manager acknowledged (and Congenoff's gay companions 
agreed wholeheartedly) that the position of lesbians in Chengdu 
was much more difficult that that of gay men.  She said it was 
much easier for men to move out of their parents' houses and 
live together without causing suspicion.  In addition, she 
claimed young women faced intense pressure from their families 
to get married - "if they tell them they're lesbian, their 
parents say they're just going through a phase" - and that many 
of her customers were married women.  All agreed the situation 
was even more difficult for lesbians in rural communities, and 
that family pressures often played a role in decisions to 
migrate to urban areas. 
 
--------------- 
COMMENT 
--------------- 
 
¶10. (C) Even though gays and lesbians in Chengdu may enjoy a 
more tolerant atmosphere than in some other areas of China, the 
community still remains largely hidden from the city's 
"mainstream" society: witness the lack of signs outside 
advertising the existence of the Activity Center and of the 
lesbian bar.  As a result, pressures on gays and lesbians to 
keep their orientation secret remain high, and one unfortunate 
effect may be a lack of knowledge about the transmission and 
prevention of STDs.  Post will continue its health-education 
outreach efforts to the gay and lesbian community in Chengdu. 
BOUGHNER