CarnalNation

Chinese authorities plan to open a gay bar in Dali City  as a means to combat the rise in HIV cases in Yunnan Province, reports China View.  About a third of new AIDS cases last year were the result of homosexual sex, according to the country's Health Minister, and the government plans to curb infections by educating gay men on safer sex.

The Good Friend Center, an non-governmental organization for gay men, plans to oversee the bar, which opens tomorrow to coincide with World AIDS Day.  The bar will hopefully "serve as a platform to raise awareness of its gay clients about safe sex practice among them," according to bar manager Zhang Jianbo.  "We might not even sell beverages in the bar.  We will turn the bar into a tribune to offer lectures and training to gay people in order to reduce AIDS infections among them."

Jiang Anmin, vice director of the Dali Health Bureau, says that a group of gay volunteers will be employed by the bar to attract customers.  But some question the government's motives.  One employee of a public health NGO has doubts: "I doubt how the government can protect the privacy of homosexuals who frequent the bar if it receives much publicity."

Gay bars have existed in China for about fifteen years.  Until 2001 homosexuality in China was considered a mental disorder.