We Found Our Chinese Haunt: The Dali Gay Bar
In an attempt to counter a rapidly rising AIDS rate, the Chinese government has actually done something cool: opened a government-funded gay bar in Dali, one of the ten Chinese cities most affected by the disease.
The bar will offer free condoms, sex ed and a proper watering hole for the area’s gays, many of whom are from rural villages, and “used to gather in a patch of woods near the historic town.” Not to linger on the past, but hanging out in a patch of woods without mushrooms or a cooler/tent/bonfire or elf leader just makes us sad.
Anyway, this is awesome progress and we’re psyched! But enough jibber-jabber. When do we drink???
[via AMERICAblog Gay]
[Reuters: China City Government Opens Gay Bar To Fight AIDS]
Source
Thanks, Jasmine!
Filed under: AIDS, Booze Rules, China, Dali, Gaysian = Fun, Gaysians, Government Funding, HIV, The Chinese Government, The Woods, Thinking and Drinking, Watering Holes, We Heart Gaysians
Yay! My beer drinking muscles are conditioned and ready to go! Cheers!!
This is a huge first step for China.
Now if only Iran could admit that they have gay men.
Now you KNOW that the U.S. has fallen off..
Iran admits they have gay men and then they execute them. They executed a young boy (about 14 or 15 yrs. old) earlier this year along with several men.
I think the difference between China and Iran is that China has alot more social [and to some extent, religious] freedoms. Both lack political freedom.
@Prometheus
One word: Tibet.
@Simon:
Two words: You’re wrong.
If the Dalai Lama did not argue for de facto independence of Tibet and focused on the spiritual needs of his people, the there wouldn’t be any problems with China. Too bad he has only realized this last year.
Any religious oppression in China is always politically motivated. ie. Catholicism, Falun Gong (more like a cult lol), or Tibetan Buddhism.