In June, Blued, the number 1 gay social app in China, got a valuation of more than $300 million, indicating the growing number of gay men in the country starting to come out of their closets, at least on social media sites.
Another step in Chinese gay men being accepted in the conservative and repressive country is a Mr. Gay China was crowned over the weekend. The winner is 27-year-old Meng Fanyu, reported Advocate.
The male beauty pageant, the first to be held successfully in China after a failed attempt in 2010, is part of an international franchise. Kate Sun, who organized the event, said they provided HIV testing throughout the different stages of the contest, avoided links to politics and focused only on creating fun events.
The pageant run for four weeks with various performances. Wang said the contest is a great platform to raise awareness of China’s LGBT community, reported Pink News.
He said, “Many people don’t really know what LGBT is, and coming out can still be difficult, so you really have to prove yourself to be an upstanding person.”
The successful holding of Mr. China pageant is a bit unexpected because in March, the Chinese censor banned the airing on TV a gay-themed web series “Addicted.” Blued has 27 million users in China, but less than 5 percent were visibly out.