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CHINA: Marriage Equality will Help Curb HIV

Melanie Nathan Nov 28-2010  “Legalization of same-sex marriage could help stabilize and sustain gay relationships, thereby lowering the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS,”  - As HIV/AIDS becomes more prevalent among the gay population on mainland China, some experts have joined the gay community in calling for the legal recognition of the same-sex marriage as a means of curbing the infection.  Although the rate of HIV infection is 0.05 per cent nationwide, gay men have been the hardest hit by the sexually transmitted disease, experts warned ahead of this year’s World AIDS Day, which falls on Wednesday (December 1). In some cities, nearly one out of five is HIV positive in the gay community, experts said.

The idea is from Zhang Beichuan, a professor at Qingdao University and an outspoken gay rights advocate. Hao Yang, deputy director of the disease prevention and control bureau under the ministry of health, said that the government has been working hard to reach vulnerable groups, particularly gay men, and to provide safe sex education and free condoms. Despite the call to legalize same-sex marriages, more than 80 per cent of homosexuals in China are already in heterosexual marriages, Zhang Beichuan said, adding that gay men in these marriages place their wives at risk of infection.

Even if same-sex marriage receives legal recognition, Zhang said, not many gay men will openly get married, due to the stigma attached to homosexuality.

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

Source: China Daily, via Asian News Network.

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