Tongqi, straight women who are married to closeted gay men in China

The growing number of Tongqi,straight women who are married to closeted gay men, has become a social problem in China. Just give you a general idea, about 90% of gay Chinese men marry a heterosexual woman. Sexologist and sociologist Li Yinhe believes there are 20 million male homosexuals in China, 80% of whom marry a woman. 
Compared with the US, I think East Asian countries care more about families and offspring. Many parents, even when they know their sons are gays, will force their sons into marriages to have grandchildren. There are also many cases that gay men use sham marriages to have kids. Vice has a comprehensive report on the topic. In China, millions of straight women have married deeply closeted gay men–and many only find out about their partner's sexuality after the wedding. What is life like for tongqi and the men that they marry? 

An advertisement that you may enjoy during the final week

Vicks, a pharmaceutical company, makes an advertisement to show supports for the LGBT community. It's really short and please watch it. I almost cried when I saw the ad for the first time.

By the way, the mum in the ad is Gauri Sawant, a famous Indian transgender activist. Here is her story if you are interested. The real story of Gauri Sawant, the trans ‘mommy’ from the Vicks video, is even more extraordinary

For all non seniors in the class, good luck on your finals. 

Why the GOP Health Care Plan is a Disaster for People Living with HIV

Health care is in jeopardy for many who depend so greatly on Medicaid and other forms of affordable care. For those with HIV, being denied this access to care is incredibly dangerous. It happened in the Reagan era and it can happen again in the Trump era.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-the-gop-health-care-plan-is-a-disaster-for-people_us_5909fc3ce4b05279d4edc1aa

Chechen authorities tell parents: 'Kill your gay sons or we will', survivor claims

 Here is a news story to another horrifying revelation from a survivor of the Chechen violence against gay men. I would have expected this story to have received more attention in mainstream news, but I hope we can remain vigilant on what is happening there.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/chechnya-parents-kill-gay-sons-russia-region-government-chechen-leader-ramzan-kadyrov-a7714591.html

Asian-American Queer Podcast: "Nancy"

Tobin Low and Kathy Yu created a new WNYC Studios podcast titled, "Nancy", that launced on April 9th.  This 12-episode show explores queerness and LGBTQ issues through an Asian-American lens.  The title, "Nancy," is an effort to reclaim a derogatory term used to refer to gay men. The podcast has been featured in The Guardian, NBC, New York Magazine's Vulture Blog, and The Huffington Post.

For me, I always find it refreshing to see queer Asian-American voices being represented and easily accessible.  I am interested to see what these podcasts will have and hope to recommend them to my friends who I know actively enjoy and listen to podcasts.

To see more, check out this HuffPo article HERE!

To hear their first podcast, "Nancy", click HERE :)

CA (still) Bans Gay Conversion Therapy!!

A case was sent to the Supreme Court, trying to take down California's ban on Gay Conversion Therapy. The Supreme Court refused to overturn it by refusing to hear the case.

Although this is a victory for the gay community, the case is far from over. Proponents to Gay Conversion Therapy have said they will continue fighting the case, supposedly believing that it is a beneficial medical practice that is being denied to gay individuals.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/supreme-court-turns-away-challenge-california-ban-gay-conversion-therapy/

Trump administration will gut transgender healthcare protections

Trump administration will gut transgender healthcare protections

Here  is a link to the full original article posted today by Jeff Taylor. 

Below is a little snippet to summarise the crux of the article:

The Trump administration appears poised to gut protections under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for transgender individuals and pregnant people.

This would be yet another attack on transgender rights from a White House that backed away from trans student rights protections, reversing course on an Obama directive to public schools requesting they honor gender identity in bathroom and locker room usage.