A for a gay
Western media was rapid to report on the subject of the latest “crackdown” in China: a writing genre acknowledged as “boys’ love.”
News articles in the U.K. and U.S. reported “mounting widespread anger” over the “stifling” of “gay erotica” and the “amateur writers who earned little to nothing for their work.”
Chinese media, too, has been paying attention to these events – but the picture that emerges is less of a sweeping crackdown and more a localized phenomenon.
A lengthy June 20, 2025, article in Nanfang zhoumo, or “Southern Weekly” – an influential and respected media outlet based in Guangzhou – goes into considerable detail portraying the recent arrests by police in the northwestern town of Lanzhou.
It reports that authorities detained several young women accused of profiting from the publication of obscene material, specifically online fiction in the genre of “danmei,” or “boys’ love.” The article also references a similar spate of arrests last year in Jixi county of Anhui province.
But nowhere does the article mention that these arrests are delegate of anything happening across the whole of China. Instead, the article goes into detail about the legal issues around attemp
by Fred Penzel, PhD
This article was initially published in the Winter 2007 edition of the OCD Newsletter.
OCD, as we know, is largely about experiencing drastic and unrelenting question. It can result in you to hesitation even the most basic things about yourself – even your sexual orientation. A 1998 learn published in the Journal of Sex Research found that among a collective of 171 college students, 84% reported the occurrence of sexual intrusive thoughts (Byers, et al. 1998). In request to have doubts about one’s sexual identity, a sufferer need not ever have had a homo- or heterosexual experience, or any type of sexual experience at all. I have observed this symptom in young children, adolescents, and adults as successfully. Interestingly Swedo, et al., 1989, initiate that approximately 4% of children with OCD experience obsessions concerned with forbidden aggressive or perverse sexual thoughts.
Although doubts about one’s have sexual identity might seem pretty straightforward as a symptom, there are actually a number of variations. The most obvious form is where a sufferer experiences the reflection that they might be of a different sexual orientation than they formerly believed. If the su
Your privacy is important to us. We want to be sure you understand how and why we use your data. View our Privacy Statement for more details. This also includes information on how we use cookies. Accept
Criminalisation:
- Criminalises LGBT people
- Criminalises sexual task between males
- Criminalises sexual exercise between females
- Imposes the death penalty
Maximum punishment:
Death penalty
More infoCriminalisation:
- Criminalises LGBT people
- Criminalises sexual exercise between males
Maximum punishment:
Life imprisonment
More infoCriminalisation:
- Criminalises LGBT people
- Criminalises sexual activity between males
- Criminalises sexual activity between females
- Criminalises the gender expression of transgender people
- Imposes the death penalty
Maximum punishment:
Death by stoning
More infoCriminalisation:
- Criminalises LGBT people
- Criminalises sexual exercise between males
- Criminalises sexual outing between females
- Criminalises the gender expression of trans people
- Maintains discriminatory age of consent
Maximum punishment:
Eight years imprisonment and 100 lashes
More infoCriminalisation:
- Criminalises LGBT people
- Criminalises sexual activity
Hornet - Gay Dating & Chat
About this app
Hornet is your go-to gay internet dating app for fun, engaging chats with gay, bi, trans, and queer men. Whether you are looking for casual conversations, friends, dates, or hookups, or simply want to articulate yourself among other male lover men, you can detect more guys more easily on Hornet.
So are you looking for a date with a boiling gay guy? Use Hornet. Wanna chat with your next-door crush? Use Hornet. Searching for the queer love of your life? Use Hornet. Or into right now? Yes, Hornet! Prioritizing your safety and privacy, Hornet provides the space for you to connect to your local, gay community — anytime, anywhere.
No wonder Hornet is the choice virtual dating app for over 100 million gay, bi, transitioned, and queer men across the world. Hornet provides dynamic, real-time exchanges — leaving nothing to the imagination. Every chat feels more authentic, immediate, and alive. On Hornet, you can expect:
CONVERSATIONS THAT Approach TO LIFE
- Chat through text and audio messages with hot gay, bi, trans, and queer men near you.
- Send emojis and stickers.
- React to messages using emoticons inspired by the LGBT community.
AUTHENTICITY MEETS INTIMACY
- Connect
For gay men, having a biological child can be complicated
Most people hoping to become parents envision having children who are genetically related to them. But for gay men, this process is complicated and expensive. Seeing it through involves collaboration with a fertility doctor, a lawyer, a gestational carrier (a.k.a. surrogate mother) and an egg donor. The process takes about two years and costs around $200,000 per child - and prospective gay fathers don't meet eligibility criteria for most health insurance plans' fertility benefits, although this is beginning to change.
Brent Monseur, MD, recently helped lead a study to document details of how gay men use assisted reproductive technology to create their families, including questions such as how many children they wish to have and how often their efforts succeed. Monseur, who is completing his postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford Medicine in reproductive endocrinology and infertility, spoke with me about the study, which appeared Aug. 4 in Fertility & Sterility Reports.
How did this research come about?
A refrain that many LGBTQ people, including myself, heard after coming out, was, "You'll never be able to acquire a