Homosexuality and HIV/AIDS in China: exhibiting to educate

Abstract

In contemporary China the position of the Go-vernment towards homosexuals seems contra-dictory. Authorities are discouraging acceptance of ho-mosexuality, but are also funding health edu-cation activities intended for homosexuals. This dual position of repression and tolerance can be interpreted as an expression of homo-phobia linked to an histeric fear of STDs and especially of HIV/AIDS. Homosexual identity is thus strictly related to illness, intended as a mental disorder or related to HIV/AIDS. Inthis process of identification of homosexuality as an illness or a carrier of one, what remains un-changed is the condition of immorality that marks homosexual desires, which do not fol-low the moral values indicated by the Nation and thus can only bring illness and suffering.