Fridae

Gay TV has landed in China. Starting from the beginning of April, every Thursday at the odd time of 3pm, Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television broadcasts Gay Connections on its website, live from Beijing. It's a far cry from a peak hour slot on popular TV, but it's a start.

And who is the host?

Didier (pronounced "deedee-ay") Zheng is a 27-year-old AIDS activist. Single. Cute. And with a charming French accent - he spent seven years studying social sciences and psychology in Lyon and Paris.

Zheng says that while the show is freely available to anyone with an Internet connection in China, the "government" messed with the format a little.

Originally they had planned to include a matchmaking second half where gays and lesbians could search for friends. But this was scrapped, says Zheng. "The government didn't think it was a good idea."

Instead the 12-part show, which runs for an hour, has Zheng, the show's producer, Gang Gang, and openly gay guests chatting about homosexual issues. The first show invited lesbian singer Qiao Qiao (pictured with Didier above) and Chen Jianqi, a drag queen performer from Sichuan. They discussed a range of topics including whether gay celebrities have a responsibility to come out and set a good example to society, what it means to be gay and social discrimination.

"I don't hurt anyone by being gay," said Qiao Qiao on the show. "But by discriminating against me, you are hurting me." Qiao Qiao has also won fame among Beijing's lesbians for running the capital's hottest lesbian night at Pipe Bar.

Zheng says Qiao Qiao sets a good role model for other lesbians. She is in a long-term relationship with her girlfriend and the two are trying to have a baby via artificial fertilisation - her egg, donated sperm and her girlfriend's womb. This is almost unheard of in China.

"In fact Qiao Qiao sets a good example to other lesbians," Zheng says. "She has a solid relationship, is starting a family and is successful with her career."

But when will China's state TV be ready to host a gay chat show?

Not for a long time, says Zheng, although a state-run channel has already made sounds that it wants to make such a show.

"I was approached by a producer from Beijing Television [a state-owned TV company in the capital]," says Zheng. "He asked me to be a presenter for a similar gay chat show on their local channel. But in the end it was not approved."

The Chinese public is simply not ready, he says.

"A lot of straight people would feel ashamed if they saw something like this on popular TV," he says. "They would think this isn't really what most Chinese people are like, why should we have this on TV?"

It's also difficult to find gay celebrities willing to appear on the show.

"It's very hard to find guests," Zheng says. "We invited a lot of gay Chinese actors and singers but they refused."

Are there any topics out of bounds?

"We are not allowed to discuss anything in relation to legal matters or the government," Zheng says. "So we can mention gay marriage but we can't say anything about changing the law."

Even so, the authorities have allowed the show to go ahead and its website remains unblocked within the mainland. That in itself is good news for China's gays.

"You know I've been interviewed by a lot of foreign reporters� they were all so surprised by the fact that this show is happening in China," says Zheng.

"They couldn't imagine China could be so open to have this gay TV show. I think the Chinese government must be very happy about this because all this foreign news gives a good impression of China."

Zheng, has a serious daytime job, which, he says, gives him a good background to be a host for Gay Connections. He is China MSM (men who have sex with men) Manager at the Beijing office of the Chi Heng Foundation, a Hong Kong-based NGO that helps China's AIDS orphans and supports public education programs to combat discrimination against homosexuals on the mainland. Chi Heng runs China's only nationwide free gay and lesbian helplines.

"You know a lot of the other guys said 'Why should Didier get it? I'm younger and much more handsome than him'," Zheng laughs. "But they were all too young and they didn't have any experience about the social situation to do this kind of job. I think I have a good background, I can give the program a lot of ideas."

One of the show's aims is to help gays and non-gays gain a better understanding of homosexuality, linking directly with what Zheng thinks is the most pressing problem for China's gays right now.

"The biggest problem for gays here is a lack of information," he says. "How to be gay, what does it mean to be gay, and how to be happy as a gay person."

He adds that he thinks some older Chinese people would be afraid that this kind of program would encourage straight people to "try" being gay.

"It's ridiculous that a TV program could turn someone gay," he says. "But it shows their lack of knowledge of what being gay really means."

While China doesn't have a hatred of gays powered by the religious right common in some parts of the west, a lot of people here still can't accept homosexuality.

"In general I can say that the average person will accept you being gay if you are a success - if you have a good job, you have money - but if you don't have this - say you are poor - then they will look down on you, they will say you are not successful because you are gay," he says.

It seems girls are more enlightened than men.

"In fact out of everyone I think Chinese women can accept gays much easier than men," he smiles. "They are very understanding about homosexuality. Straight men are not as understanding."

And it seems women - gay, straight or transgender - are more willing to appear on the show. Following the first program's dyke and drag queen guests, the second installment of Gay Connections invited the alluring Tian Yuan, who played lesbian Yip in Hong Kong dyke movie, Butterfly (2004), to talk about showing gay movies to the general public.

It's hard to imagine anyone objecting to a movie starring Tian, whatever the characters' sexuality.

Zheng says he thinks the shows are going OK "considering I've never been a TV host before."

The show may have ditched its matchmaking section, but for those who are interested - his accent is cute; he has a good sense of humour; and he's still single.