It has been a privilege and an honor to pen this column, albeit for a brief moment. The gay pulse on which my lips have been suctioned, is beating a little too irregularly for me to continue to deliver you the latest and greatest from this city's LGBT scene. I'm retiring from public life to spare me the pain of six-inch wedge heels and you the pain of my haggard appearance. For now, I'm dropping out of society à la Whitney Houston and may come back for a three-year tour sometime in the future.

This city's LGBT scene has come along in leaps and bounds since I moved here seven years ago and this is thanks to the generosity and kindness of the community. It's a far cry from the b!tchy queens and separatist lesbians of my hometown. Here you meet terrific people and perhaps the most fabulous of all are our straight and Chinese friends.

In cosmopolitan Shanghai, people really don't give a rat's arse what you do, just so long as you do it well. From the hip trust fund babies who patronize Lounge 18, The Glamour Bar and MAO to the students, freelance writers and English teachers at Windows, Mural and The Shelter, the queer folk of Shanghai are included in all the best this city has to offer. Likewise the hot daddies and sexy mommies at O'Malley's and Blue Frog on Hongmei Lu never bat an eyelid when the queers rock up for a pint or Bloody Mary. Meanwhile there's nothing weird about straight guys hanging out with their gay mates at Shanghai Studio.

Of course the nicest and most accepting folk of all are our Chinese friends, neighbors and colleagues who either don't know or don't care how we speak, dress or mince. We can walk along Huaihai Lu discreetly holding hands without fear of some bigot with sexual insecurity issues screaming out “poofter” from their car or some aggressive apes physically abusing us for being “dykes.” And isn't it great to live in a place where the word “gay” isn't encountered as a synonym for stupid? Instead we are comrades and lalas and there is nothing wrong with that.

So my retiring wish is that we all continue to make Shanghai a model of tolerance and sophistication for the whole world to discover in 2010.