ABSTRACT
In the early 1990s in China, the word ‘homosexual’ (tongxinglian) simply did not exist in the laws or in the media. Homosexuals, especially lesbians (nü tongxinglian), did not know that other people, like ourselves, also had homosexual orientations. The psychiatrists often told of the homosexuals who came to hospital to be cured, who were unhappy and sometimes suicidal. A few homosexuals also began to realize that we should organize our own discussions, in our own circles, in environments without discriminatory language, and free from this misunderstanding and lack of recognition. In the summer of 1997, six tongzhi living in Beijing (three foreign women, one Chinese man, one foreign man and myself) met together to discuss the potential and need for setting up a Tongzhi Pager Hotline (Tongzhi rexian). In 1999, women tongzhi rented their own office with a telephone line, and the Hotline divided into a women’s and a men’s hotline, so organizational strength was divided.
