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Gay issue removed from the closet at Fudan
By Ryan Pyle (The New York Times)
Updated: 2005-09-09 11:16
As the class got under way, the diminutive teacher standing before an
overcrowded lecture hall in this city's most exclusive university handed out a
survey. The first of several multiple-choice questions asked students what their
feelings would be if they encountered two male lovers: total acceptance,
reluctant acceptance, rejection or disgust?
A class on gay and lesbian studies at Fudan
University in Shanghai has attracted an overflow crowd. The class is the
first ever of its kind in China. [The New York
Times] |
Prof. Sun Zhongxin is teaching the
gay and lesbian studies class. "The attitude toward homosexuality in China is
changing," she said.
As a way of breaking the ice, the teacher, Sun Zhongxin, 35, with a Ph.D. in
sociology and a fondness for PowerPoint presentations, read aloud some of the
answers anonymously. In her survey, most of the 120 or so students said they
would reluctantly accept gay lovers in their midst.
The Fudan University class, Introduction to Gay and Lesbian Studies, is the
first of its kind ever offered to Chinese undergraduates, and Ms. Sun briefly
wondered why it was so well attended, before providing her own answer. "The
attitude toward homosexuality in China is changing," she said. "It is a good
process, but it also makes us feel heavy-hearted. What's unfortunate about such
heavy attendance is that it indicates that many people have never discussed the
topic before."
"Not only are people hiding in the closet," she concluded, "but the topic
itself has been hiding in the closet."
A class like this would be unremarkable on most American university campuses,
where many students are quite open about their homosexuality and the curriculum
has long included offerings reflecting their interests. But among China's gay
and lesbian population, which may be as large as 48 million by some estimates
though it remains largely invisible, the new course is being portrayed as a
major advance.
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