ABSTRACT
Wu Youjian is by all accounts an unusual sixty-four-year-old woman. Some years ago she ‘came out’ in the mainstream media—as the proud and supportive mother of a gay son. Wu Mama (“Mother Wu”), as Chinese lesbians and gays [tongzhi] fondly address her, founded the Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) network in China. She also writes a blog, has authored the book “Love is the most beautiful rainbow” [Ai shi zuimeide caihong], runs a tongzhi telephone hotline, and frequently speaks about her experiences at tongzhi events and in the media. Wu Youjian crucially, and somewhat controversially in China, believes that parents must actively support their tongzhi children in their pursuit of a happy life and romantic love. She is vocal in her critique of those who pressure their tongzhi child into heterosexual marriage and who consider traditional family values to exclude the possibility for tongzhi couples and families to exist alongside conventional families (Shi 2010).
