Wu Youjian, the first person to publicly declare support for her gay child in China, poses with the rainbow flag during her visit to America in June. Photo: Courtesy of Wu Youjian
By Xie Wenting
Brandishing a rainbow-colored pompom in each hand, 67-year-old Wu Youjian skipped and danced along the street with the unbridled abandon of a woman less than half her age. The date was June 29, and Wu had come all the way from Guangzhou to march in the 44th San Francisco Gay Pride Parade as part of the PFLAG congregation. PFLAG - a global non-profit organization that stands for Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays - had erected a large banner for the occasion, which bristled briskly in the wind behind Wu as she made her way through the multitude. This year, the parade attracted more than 500,000 people from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
Wu garnered the attention of the Chinese media in 2005, when she became the first Chinese parent to publicly voice support for her gay child. She was in the United States as part of the China-America Rainbow Tour Group organized by China Star, the first Chinese travel agency to offer LGBT themed tourism to the US. The San Francisco Gay Pride Parade was one of the highlights of their 13-day long trip through the land of the Stars and Stripes.
Wu's group was made up of nine people in total: a gay man, four parents with gay children, and four straight supporters of the LGBT cause. During the two-hour long parade, Wu was interviewed by KTSF Channel 26, the largest Asian-language broadcast station in the US.
"It's like a dream come true. I went there as a mother who supports her gay son, and I was so happy to be able to tell the world how proud I am of him," said Wu, reflecting on the experience.
Tour groups which specifically cater to members of the LGBT community have been around since the early 2000s. Agencies have increasingly targeted the LGBT community on account of their high level of disposable income relative to other socio-economic groups, with travel intelligence company Skift reporting this year that global LGBT tourism expenditure is expected to exceed $200 billion in 2014 alone.
Thousands of people in Rome don flamboyant dress and take to the streets to support Europride in 2011. Photo: CFP
A closeted community
In China, LGBT specific tourism is organized mostly by members within the community itself.
Hu Zhijun, the executive director of PFLAG China, has organized LGBT travel tours using instant messaging app QQ for the last six years. Hu also maintains a blog promoting LGBT tourism, but pointed out that at present, even in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, the number of establishments that have services catering to the LGBT community are limited.
"The market needs to be cultivated. In China, there aren't any hotels or streets that are specifically catering to the LGBT community, as there are in the US or Germany," said Hu.
Of the professional travel agencies that do provide LGBT specific packages, the oldest is Blue Ribbon Gay Tourism Agency.
Blue Ribbon has been running LGBT tours to Thailand since 2008.
Johnny Hu, a staff member at Blue Ribbon, said that the itineraries for Blue Ribbon's LGBT tours focus on taking travelers to LGBT-friendly places, such as LGBT bars and LGBT saunas.
"Night life activities are a very important part of the tours we organize," said Hu. "A lot of LGBTs who are single use the trips as an opportunity to find new lovers."
Hu said that interest in their LGBT themed tour groups had picked up in recent years.
"We used to send a tour group of 20 people every one month to two months. But in the past two years, there's been enough demand to send group of 20 every week."
At present, Blue Ribbon only offers a LGBT travel package to Thailand. Hu cites two main reasons for this: firstly, because Thailand is a relatively cheap destination, meaning that it is affordable to a larger number of people, and secondly, because it is relatively easy for Chinese citizens to get visas to Thailand.
According to Hu, there are less than 10 agencies in China that provide LGBT tourism services. An Internet search revealed that other than China Star, the destinations offered by these agencies are restricted to domestic travel within China, and travel to Southeast Asian countries.
Consequently, members of the LGBT community who wish to participate in LGBT parades in other parts of the world usually have to do so alone. Some have done so despite the additional hassle, with members like Chen Zhenxiu, a 66-year-old mother who has a gay son, finding the experience to be well worth it.
Chen traveled to the US in June 2012, and participated in both the Washington and New York gay parades with her son.
"Unlike Chinese gay people, the LGBT community over there live their lives out in the sun, rather than hiding in the closet," said Chen. "I took a lot of pictures during the parades, so I could remind myself that places like this exist."
A man dresses in a butterfly costume at the 2012 San Francisco Gay Parade. Photo: CFP
Fun for the family
Many LGBT tour groups cater not only to LGBT people themselves, but also to the families and friends of LGBTs.
"LGBT tour groups can provide an opportunity for people whose loved ones are part of the LGBT community to better understand the issues that LGBT people face, by meeting others who share their situation," said Hu. "Both LGBTs and their families and friends can share their feelings and experiences openly with every other member of the traveling party, which perhaps isn't always the case with ordinary tour groups."
Wu agreed.
"Trips like this can help family members and friends who are straight to better understand the issues faced by members of the LGBT community. For us, it provides a channel to talk frankly, without any barriers," said Wu.
Sixty-year-old Ahlan (pseudonym), mother to a gay son, was inspired to join an LGBT travel group for this very reason.
She had attended a PFLAG meeting in mid-June in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, and afterwards, along with five other mothers who had LGBT children, Ahlan decided to travel to Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.
Half of their itinerary was dedicated to visiting tourist spots, with the other half dedicated to visiting gay people in Shenzhen who were struggling to reconcile their religious beliefs with their sexuality.
"We talked to them, and tried to ease their burdens," said Ahlan.
"With any other tour group, there is no way that we would have had an opportunity to talk to people about these sorts of issues."
A cross-dresser in violet garb at the 2012 Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco. Photo: CFP
Economic freedom, social bondage
"LGBT tourism is a lucrative cake," said Hu.
"There are around 60 million gay people in China. If we take their families into account, there is a market of 200 million people waiting to be tapped into."
Hu said that because gay people in China are freed of the economic burden of raising children, they tended to have greater spending power, as well as more time for travel.
"Because my son is gay, I didn't have to pay for the kind of lavish wedding ceremony that many families do," said Ahlan.
"My economic situation is more flexible in that regard, so I have more opportunities to travel. But it's a little bit bittersweet."
Despite many in the LGBT community possessing the economic means and a keen willingness to travel, the potential for LGBT tourism in China to really take off is limited by the social attitudes and prejudices that continue to prevail in this country, according to Hu.
In China, gay marriage is illegal, and gay couples are denied the right to have children by law.
"The situation in China is that the majority of gay people do not come out of the closet. Many have even entered into the heterosexual marriages," said Wu.
"It's hard to get them to participate in LGBT groups. Gay people who have jobs as civil servants, military officers or teachers absolutely refuse to participate in events that promote awareness and understanding of the LGBT community, for fear of losing their jobs," Wu explained.
An additional obstacle to LGBT tourism is the difficulty many LGBT people face in trying to get visas.
According to the exit and entry policies of many foreign countries, not being married and not having children makes a traveler a more likely candidate for illegal immigration, or to overstay their visa.
These guidelines for visa applications are enforced particularly strictly by countries in the West, according to Wu.
When Wu traveled to the US with the China-America Rainbow Tour Group, two gay people were denied visas. Both were older than 40, unmarried, and had no children.
Wu said this year's US trip is just the beginning. China Star has organized their next rainbow trip to Taiwan in October, and Wu is hopeful that more people will participate.
Wu Youjian in a rainbow flag dress. Photo: Courtesy of Wu Youjian
Top 10 Gay-friendly Destinations
1 San Francisco, US
2 Sydney, Australia
3 Brighton, England
4 Amsterdam, Netherlands
5 Berlin, Germany
6 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
7 New York City, US
8 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
9 Prague, Czech Republic
10 Bangkok, Thailand