But underneath its modern looking facade, the country is still very traditional; this is especially true of attitudes toward homosexuality. According to Zhang Beichuan, a professor at the Qingdao University Medical College, there are more than 20 million gay men in the country. Being gay can make life difficult in China. Homosexuality was a crime there until , and was considered a mental illness by the Chinese Medical Association until Gay marriage is not legal in China.
Although some within Chinese society are starting to become more tolerant of the LGBT community, being gay is still very much stigmatized in China today. The issue becomes more complicated when HIV is involved.
Gay men now account for 27 percent of all new HIV infections, yet according to Zhang Beichuan they make up roughly 1. One in The number is based on the data collected at CDC surveillance sites. The actual national number could be lower. But for the gay community, the HIV-positive rate might be as high as 10 percent. Not enough people are using condoms in the gay community, said Dr.
They put pleasure above safety. They feel condoms deprive them of pleasure. Especially for gay men in heterosexual marriages, they have experienced such long-term pressure not to have sex with other men, that when they do have it, they tend to engage in high-risk behavior.
The least populous county still has , to half a million people. The lack of sex education also contributes to the rise of HIV, especially among gay youth.
