Gays too shy for class

2006-09-09 18:57

Shanghai - A gay studies course is a hit among the students at an elite university in China's largest city Shanghai, but homosexuals are too shy to attend.

Extra seats had to be brought in to cater for the more than 110 undergraduate students who crammed into the classroom for the lecture on homosexuality and Aids prevention at Fudan University, said Shanghai Youth Daily on Friday.

But none of the gay students who were invited by the organiser of the course turned up, said the report, because they were worried about being spotted by their classmates.

Homosexuality is still largely a taboo subject in China.

Fudan held the nation's first course that examined health, legal and social issues related to gays last year.

Homosexuality was listed as a mental disorder in China until 2001.

- AFP