i've been in a relationship with my gf for more than a year. she went to Syd this Feb and we're suffering a lot lately. in my country, China, there's no law to protect or against us. u don't get legally punished for being gay, what punishes u is the pressure from ur family and the social mainstream. we're a heterosexual society like the rest of the world. the law doesn't hurt u or even blame u, but the family which makes u who u r can be very harsh on u if u r gay. my gf and i are not planning to come out to our families cuz we don't wanna break their hearts, but staying in the closet(sort of) has crushed ur dreams of building a normal family. too much pressure. it's just too much. lately, we've been considering where our love should go. we don't wanna give up on each other cuz what we've experienced is true love. we can't even stand the idea of breaking up but the social reality is crunching us. she cries every time when she calls and there's nothing i can do. i start to hate this society for not respecting diversity. in China, we have an old saying which goes like, don't do to others what u don't want others to do to u. but it's not true. the society is alway judging and telling ppl what's right. being gay is not right, it says. the law won't punish u but i will punish u with ur family, it says.
i used to believe in God. but once i found i was gay, i stopped praying to Him, cuz the nature He gave me has made me a sinner.
it might take generations for the Chinese mainstream to accept gay couples or marriage. my generation has failed. hopefully the coming generations can get what we can't get.
if u wanna help me, plz contact me at annasuinana@gmail.com

I lived now over a year in China. The following issues affected me:

Discrimination in housing
A few weeks having moved to a flat in Beijing, the landlord gave us notice to vacate the flat. Among other reasons stated, one was that me and my husband were seen giving each other a kiss on the CCTV camera for the building's lift. Neighbours would have complained about that.
There is no legal law to protect from this discrimination. While looking for a new place to live, we we about to rent a flat but when the landlady came to know we were going to share a double bed, she refused us suddenly without reasons. For our current tenancy we pretend to sleep in different bedrooms.

Discrimination in immigration
I am a student at a university in Beijing and therefore am granted a student visa with a full residence permit for one year. My husband came with me to China to find a job but had issues getting a visa. People with student visas are allowed to have their spouses registered as accompanying family members. We tried to apply for such a visa for him and issued the marriage certificate from the UK but were refused on the grounds that same-sex marriages are not recognized.

I hope you one day could be able to express your feelings with freedom and pride; you don't deserve to punish yourself like that, leaving your love and hopes in silence.
I wish you the best luck in the world, hope your family will some day understand you, because family bonds are the most important ones.
Send you a big hug, and please, don't give up!

When I gradutated from colleague, I met my first girl friend. We fell in love just as fast as the lighting. I implied to my parent about my relationship. But they didn't seems to accept it due to the traditional view in their mind. If I had came out, they would have been miserable. So I tried to be " straight". After a long time fright in my mind, I met a boy, but found it's unfaithful for him to be together, because I'm not able to love him. So we broke up. Recently, I made many friends. They are queers also. They are from northen China, and they told me that's not possible for parents to understand what is homosexualty. If they came out, they might have grabbed to accept the mental treatment. I felt it's a tragedy to be a lesbian, whereas I can't change it. I wish my parents will accept it someday and wish people won't discriminate against the queer some day.

China has opened its first government-funded gay bar! See http://www.cdeclips.com/en/nation/fullstory.html?id=36003