Lesbians in Shanghai can get psychological help and support from
a new hotline that opened this week, the first on the Chinese
mainland dedicated to their concerns.
Sponsored by a Hong Kong foundation, the free hotline is staffed
by trained counselors who are also lesbian or "lala" as they known
in Chinese.
Many lesbians in China are pressured into marrying men and end
up living miserable lives, said sociologist Li Yinhe.
She said the public and the families and friends of lesbians
should be more understanding and tolerant.
Chung To, who heads the foundation called Chi Heng, hopes the
hotline will provide real help for lesbians.
"We hire lesbians to operate the hotline because they have a
better understanding of the pressures and stresses," said Chung who
is an openly gay man.
While China has no official statistics on homosexuality, the
Ministry of Health estimated at the end of 2004 that there were
five to ten million gay men in the country. Some experts estimate
the total homosexual population is at least 30 million.
Most gays and lesbians dare not declare their sexual orientation
and are forced to find sex partners in places that make them
vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
According to estimates, one percent of gay men have contracted
HIV.
Volunteer hotlines for homosexuals have emerged in a number of
Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Most of
these hotlines were founded by gay volunteers or by experts from
the country's medical and family planning organizations.
(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2006)