Gay rights have come a long way in the mainland since homosexuality was a crime, until 1997, or classified as a mental illness, until 2001.

Last month, Beijing hosted its second annual conference for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) activists. This year’s event not only attracted twice as many delegates, but – for the first time – funding of more than US$ 30,000 (HK$232,600) from a joint US-United Nations initiative to improve gay rights in Asia. It also had the approval of Chinese government departments and the China Family Planning Association.

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