The dust has yet to settle over the furore ignited by award-winning actress Lü Liping (吕丽萍) when she enthusiastically shared several homophobic posts on Sina Weibo by a Chinese pastor in Rochester, NY, decrying the legalisation of same-sex marriage by the New York State Senate. more ›

"China has an excellent growth momentum at the moment, and people at my age prefer stability. If there is any unrest, none of us will have any food left on the table. But what's increasingly worrying, though, is that the solutions we're employing to solve problems are increasingly outmoded. Not only are they increasingly unable to deal with problems, there is always that last resort of calling on the troops. Now how does that solve problems? As the contradictions pile up, I'm afraid political reform has now become more imperative than ever." more ›

In her latest blogpost, feminist, sociologist and sexologist Li Yinhe drops her usual serious, scholarly tone and describes the frustration that she faces working around the Chinese internet censorship regime's restrictions. The Net Nanny, she says, is driving her absolutely bonkers:

Yesterday, I found myself suddenly unable to send emails, but had no problem receiving emails. After looking through my email settings multiple times, I could find absolutely nothing wrong and as a last resort, I decided to call up the 263.com customer service. On the other end of the line was a polite male voice, who requested that I give him the error number, which I did. The troubleshooting took no time. He asked, "Can you see if your email has the following three English letters -- 's', 'e' and 'x'?" I was flabbergasted beyond words. This was a business email discussing the publishing of the works of renowned German sexologist Erwin J. Haeberle in China -- of course there was the word "sex" in it. Be that as it may, we finally spotted the reason, and I was able to send the email as soon as the word "sex" was deleted from the email. more ›

At the recently concluded "Two Sessions", a female National People's Congress representative by the name of Zhang Xiaomei made the shocking proposal for women to leave the workforce and return home. Notable feminist-sociologist Li Yinhe took to her blog to explain why Zhang's proposal is a bad idea, and to lament the overall lack of the awareness of gender equality among female NPC delegates. Below is our translation of her post, entitled, "It's time for our female NPC representatives to rethink their positions!" more ›

Earlier this month, sexologist-sociologist Li Yinhe (李银河) announced on her blog that she would be making five proposals at the "Two Sessions" for: more ›

Liu Shaowu (刘绍武), director of the security management bureau under the Ministry of Public Security, recently emphasised to public security bureaus nationwide the importance of respect as a key touchstone in the crackdown against vice and prostitution. Sex workers, he said, may not be subject to verbal and physical abuse, discrimination and shaming by public parades. He also suggested that the public security bureau would henceforth no longer call prostitutes「卖淫女」(lit. "women who sell vice"), and encourage the use of the term「失足妇女」(lit. "women who have lost their way"). The statement sparked off a flurry of debate in the public, but the ministry's move has received a thumbs up from notable feminist and sexologist Li Yinhe (李银河). Here is our translation of her latest blogpost: more ›

It seems like sex parties are a big no no under Chinese law... at least for now. China's best known sexologist, Li Yinhe, is now tackling an archaic law that "criminalizes private gathering activities regarding sex" and asking legislators to repeal it. While I'm all for Lin Yihe's efforts though, I'm not going to hold my breath - despite the rampant "pink KTVs" and "pink hair salons," prostitution is still illegal. I'm assuming orgies, even if they have been discovered to be the party theme amongst certain people, are much less common. more ›

Renowned sexologist and sociologist Li Yinhe (李银河) writes in a recent blogpost on China's laws against gay blood donors. A group of lesbians in Beijing are now fighting for the right to donate blood: more ›

Renowned sexologist and sociologist Li Yinhe (李银河) in a recent blogpost on the lives of tongqi (同妻), heterosexual women who find themselves married to gay Chinese men (translation adapted from Yawning Bread): more ›

The Shanghai Fag Hag is back! After an extended and highly enjoyable break from China, we have returned, just in time for the release of Li Yinhe's (our personal, sexologist hero!) Homosexuality Survey. Peijin Chen, has done an awesome translation of the survey on his blog, but we'll give you a few highlights. Not to give it all away, but this fairy queen found the answers surprisingly enlightened:
• When asked if they thought heterosexuals and homosexuals are equal individuals, just over 80% said yes. (I know it's not 100%, but we are getting there.)
• 91% said that they ought to have equal employment rights.
• Almost 30% said they would support gay marriages. (Go California!)

Today I saw reports on CCTV-12 related to the crackdown on porn sites. And unlike other reports on murder, theft, and sexual crimes, I thought there was a problem with these reports. more ›

... at least that is what Shirley Phelps-Roper of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas would have us believe (h/t to Danwei). She recently wrote in to China Daily columnist Raymond Zhou after reading his opinion piece on recent comments by Chinese celebrity Sun Haiying (孙海英) who not too long ago ignited a huge debate with his comments that homosexuality was unequivocally "criminal in nature" ("同性恋就是犯罪“):

Dear Raymond more ›

We mentioned in this earlier post that Prof. Li Yinhe, the noted sexologist, had just written on her blog that she was being pressured to keep her mouth shut, i.e. not talk about spouse-swapping and not submit proposals to officials about legalizing gay marriage in China. more ›

Over a year ago, a Chinese billionaire businessman made headlines when he published a seeking marriage ad in the newspaper where one of the requirements of the woman be that she is a virgin at the time of marriage. more ›

What was your reaction when Chen Hui, the 28 year old boss of several major Chinese porn sites, was sentenced to life in prison recently? Our favorite sexologist, Li Yinhe (李银河) wrote about this in her blog, where she said that the sentence was way too heavy, that China was stuck in the sexual "dark ages," and that porn itself is a form a speech, rather than a sexual "action" (such as prostitution), and that if there is a market for porn, that it ought to be available. We think she means that if the porn isn't available to kids, but is something that willing adults want to spend their money on, that's perfectly fine. She also raises the question of why this one "porn king" got a life sentence while tons of others are still out there doing business. And doesn't this set a bad legal precedent -- will the judicial system continue to mete out life sentences (since the only thing worse than life in prison is capital punishment, and in most cases you can't get that for being a porn king)? more ›

The Sun Yat-Sen University (中山大学) in Zhuhai made headlines recently with the establishment of the first gay support group on a Chinese university campus. This is the first legally registered student group, which will perhaps set a precedent for similar groups at Chinese universities that are still informal or unregistered. You can read an interview (in Chinese) with Ai Xiaoming and Li Yinhe (the latter recently made headlines again because she "endorses" wife-swapping) and learn about some of the issues involved in setting up a gay-rights or gay-themed student group at a university. Apparently Sun Yat-sen University has a history of openness -- they even staged a performance of The Vagina Monologues there. The new student group is called "Happy Together" (an homage to Wong Kar-wai, not The Turtles) in English and in Chinese it's known as the 彩虹社 (caihong she or Rainbow Group). more ›

This morning we came across two pieces of news, both about sex and sexuality in China, one interesting, the other depressing. more ›

Phillyist keeps it fresh by getting a new motto, learning to prioritize, and taking in an experimental indie rock show. more ›

With a title like that, who could resist? The Shanghai Daily report in question discusses the recent controversy surrounding noted professor Li Yinhe (李银河) of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). The article is an opinion piece written by Jiang Yunsheng and says that while he/she respects Li's research on sexuality ... more ›

After just one month on Chinese television, Spongebob Squarepants is already the No. 1 cartoon in the country. (The news comes from a Nickelodeon press release, so take it for what it's worth.) It does seem that, for whatever reason, Spongebob is less popular in Shanghai than it is elsewhere in China: more ›