PRIDE is once again upon us so here’s the official rundown of what will be happening for the most fabulous of weeks on the Shangay calendar: June 16-23.
This list is only dates and times of the events, to ensure as minimal closures as possible; VENUES will only be ... Read More
I spent most of the winter working my way through DVDs (the werewolf on BBC’s “Being Human,” aside from being adorable, is gay in real life) with Taco Mama’s on speed-dial. Now, like an alternate universe version of Eddard “Ned” Stark, I’m realizing that “summer is coming ... Read More
According to a recent poll by the Friendly Taiwan Alliance, which was subsequently reported by Pink News, a coalition of gay, lesbian and trans groups in Taiwan, approximately 30 percent of the island’s homosexuals have considered taking their own lives, and 18 percent of these have actually attempted suicide ... Read More
I recently sat down with Shanghai LGBT maven and Shanghai Pride organizer Charlene Liu to talk about 2012 for Shangay: what’s going on with the group, what’s up with Pride and what’s on the books for the year in general. Here’s the scoop.
Pride is Back ... Read More
With the Shanghai Literary Festival in town, my editor me asked me, “What do gays read in Shanghai?” The answer, it seems, is not much. In the age of Kindles, Nooks and the internet, gay bookstores in the West are an endangered species with most being hold-overs from a more ... Read More
Valentine’s has never been my holiday. I’ve spent any number of Feb. 14s with friends drinking ourselves to the point that we think we don’t need love, then hugely over-tipping waiters we were all desperately flirting with the entire meal. Couples have it easy: pretend you care ... Read More
I vividly remember my first childhood crushes. From the athletic Greg Louganis in the ’88 Seoul Olympics to the troubled Hob in RoboCop 2 to pretty much the entire cast of Newsies (including a young Christian Bale), they were all male and all I could think about. I’ve never ... Read More
The Chinese gay scene was really born 10 years ago when homosexuality was delisted as a mental disorder in 2001. It seems that we jumped out of the cradle and began walking forward because after a pumping weekend on the fruit loop, it’s hard to fathom that just a ... Read More
Shanghai's hetero meat market has outlets all over town--a nightclub here, a cocktail bar there. But for those looking to swing the other way, it can be difficult to find quality venues. Read on for an update on new and mainstay LGBT spots from homo about town, Adam Frost ... Read More
The dates have been set; the venues have been arranged and it looks like it’s going to be a great party. Look out for venue details, exact times and locations to be released a day or two before each event, to prevent any… ahem… complications. Keep checking back for ... Read More
Same-sex daters in Shanghai may occasionally be heard complaining about the lack of options for ladies and gentlemen of our persuasion. Anyone who has traveled or lived overseas can attest to the fact that for a city of its size, Shanghai doesn’t do nearly as much as a city ... Read More
It seems like only yesterday I sat at Starbucks on Hengshan Lu interviewing Ricky Lu about his return to the Shanghai club scene with Angel, which is why it pains me so much to see that they are under temporary closure and have relocated to Obama Club for Saturday parties ... Read More
Increasingly, countries have implemented regulations protecting “out” employees from harassment and wrongful termination. Here in Shanghai, where the official stance on homosexuality is ambiguous at best, choosing whether or not to be out at the workplace is a more difficult decision to make.
Even in countries with strong anti-discrimination laws ... Read More
Contrary to what you may have heard, sports have always been an important part of the LGBT community. From Billy Jean King to Greg Louganis and as far back as Bill Tilden (in 1950, a survey of sports writers named him the greatest tennis player of the first half of ... Read More
It may be hard to believe, but there are people out there willing to put aside their desire for a superlative sofa and luxurious loft in the city to share their genetics with the world of the future and have a kid. The notion of having gaybies, though foreign to ... Read More
Spring is here and with it the urge to crawl out of the pile of DVDs and McDonald’s delivery cartons I’ve been hibernating in. Luckily, party planners are ready to help us spend our hard-earned pink notes.
Tequila Tuesdays
On Tuesday nights, Yucca, one of David Laris’s ... Read More
To the casual observer, the recent events at gay bars in Shanghai could be construed as a death knell for nightlife aimed at the cities pink set. I’m not so sure.
To bring up to speed those who don’t follow the news so closely, on the weekend of ... Read More
The Shanghai LGTB Youth Organization was started a few years ago by a group of LGTB teens who were interested in finding other gay teens in the city. Taylor (in picture above right), who coordinates that group, tells me “it has grown into a really cool inter-school community of kids ... Read More
Why is it that as the Shanghai bar scene moves on to provide more progressive and diversified venues, lala bars just never seem to evolve? The newest incarnations stick to the old, tired formula of pricey-yet-mediocre drinks, either overly tacky or barren interiors, playing the same bootlegged CD that has ... Read More
Coming out is hard to do in every society, but in China it can be even harder than in the West. However, glance around the streets and it seems that the amount of lala-looking young local girls has ballooned.
Many credit this to Li Yuchun (pictured above), the tom-boyish singer ... Read More
The Shanghai Gender / Sexuality Cultural Center recently opened its doors to Shanghai’s LGBT community. Also known as the Rainbow Center (696 Weihai Lu, Building 11, Room 412), it’s a comprehensive activity space that is open to the public (gay or gay-friendly), where different communities can communicate, hold activities ... Read More
Shanghai’s gay and lesbian scene welcomes the newest kid on the block, Q Bar, located at the revitalized section of Dream Wharf in the South Bund. This is the latest venture from joint owners Tony and Tony, who are veterans of the Shanghai gay and lesbian bar scene. Before ... Read More
Is the Shanghai cold creeping into your bones? Why not take a winter gaycation with my guide to some gay-friendly destinations in Southeast Asia?
There are usually two categories of gay travelers: those who seek the segregated bliss of gay-only cruises, hotels and clubs–where flamboyancy is the norm and ... Read More
As Shanghai’s second ever Pride festival came to an end, pink voices came out of the shadows. As a local partygoer told me: “I’m not scared anymore–we are not doing anything illegal or wrong.” It is evident that the community is no longer hiding or concerned about ... Read More
There are a lot of urban legends about lalas floating around, tainting our good, clean names. It’s been said that lalas turn into werewolves in the light of a full moon, and one of my gay friends recently asked me whether lala vaginas have teeth. Here, I will put ... Read More