北京：72岁“老同志”感受社会变迁

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男同性恋者巴黎曾因同性恋而被三次判刑劳改总共长达七年时间，在北京度过72岁生日的巴黎如今有无限感概，他的个人经历也折射出几十年来中国同性恋者所处社会环境的变迁。2月24日的英文《中国日报》在第七版报道了巴黎度过72岁生日时的讲述。

　　在北京西单附近一家小餐馆里，巴黎吹灭了他72岁生日蛋糕上的蜡烛，在场参加生日聚会的还有其他一些同性恋者，他们都是朋友。巴黎说，他经历过人生的痛苦和快乐，如今已不再被认为是“坏人”，他终于可以高抬起头过自己的生活。

　　《中国日报》的报道说，许多年轻的同性恋者从巴黎的经历中感受到了希望和鼓舞，巴黎的特别经历，映射出中国社会在对待同性恋者的态度上所发生的缓慢而又明显的变化。尽管障碍仍然存在，巴黎认为人们已经享有表达性倾向的前所未有的自由。

　　在自己的生日聚会中，巴黎又唱歌又读诗，还不时从衬衣口袋里拿出男友的照片。巴黎讲述说，他的初次同性恋经历是从16岁开始，那段交往持续了四年。在那个年代里，同性恋者被人称为“兔子”或其它侮辱性的名称，他们只能在公园、浴室或公厕里秘密相会。

　　在当年，巴黎的同性恋倾向不被父母接受，父母认为那是“病”。在父母的要求下，巴黎曾有过一段维持不到半年的异性婚姻，也因此有了一个女儿，但后来没有跟她联系过。

　　1977年，因为另一位同性恋者举报巴黎的同性恋行为，巴黎被判三年劳教。当时还是中学教师的巴黎被学校开除，校长认为巴黎“犯了永不可饶恕的罪行”。那之后，因为同性恋，巴黎又先后在1982年和1984年两次被判刑两年。

　　巴黎回忆说，甚至在监狱里他也受到其他犯人的歧视。有一次出于同情，他给了一个男孩一个包子，却因此被狱友们痛打一顿。在狱中的巴黎也曾想过结束自己的生命。

　　当巴黎在1986年走出监狱时，他发现社会对于同性恋者的态度已经开始有了改变，已经有更多的同性恋者活跃在他们的“圈子”里，“同性恋”这个词也开始更多的出现在媒体上。

　　失去工作的巴黎曾靠卖北京地图谋生，也作为自愿者向同性恋者发放预防艾滋的宣传品，尽管这些预防艾滋宣传册曾被警察没收。与如今的许多同性恋者一样，巴黎的男友有妻子和自己的家庭，而巴黎也对养子隐瞒着自己的同性恋关系。

　　进入九十年代之后，政府对于同性恋越来越宽容，到1997年时，被用来给同性恋定罪的相关法律条文被废除，2001年，同性恋不再被国家列为“精神疾病”。

　　尽管社会态度已经有了变化，问题和歧视却仍然继续存在。《中国日报》的报道引述上海大学学者刘达临的估计说，中国有大约百分之九十的同性恋者已经或准备与异性结婚。

　　根据青岛大学张北川教授在2008年的一项调查，在1259名男同性恋者中，有62%的人表示从未公开过自己的性倾向，35%的接受调查者曾想过自杀，而曾尝试过自杀的人占13%。此外该项调查还显示，约20%的受访同性恋者表示曾遭受语言或身体上的伤害，因为是同性恋者而曾被解雇或曾被迫辞职的人占9%，还有5%的同性恋者认为自己的收入或职业发展受到了不利影响。

　　《中国日报》的报道引述北京回龙观医院一位刘姓医生的介绍说，有许多人前来寻求“治疗纠正”自己的同性恋倾向，其中既有父母陪同的青少年，也有已婚男子。

　　张北川教授认为，中国的男、女同性恋者人数据估计有几千万，歧视问题迫使其中相当大比例的人隐藏自己的性倾向。有卫生专家认为，这种隐藏妨碍了预防艾滋病的努力，而许多男同性恋者选择与异性结婚，也导致艾滋病有在女性人群中扩散的趋势。

　　从72岁的同性恋者巴黎，谈到整个社会对同性恋者的态度变化和艾滋病等话题，《中国日报》报道说，许多专家和同性恋者都认为，态度的改变是一个缓慢的过程，困难和挑战依然存在，如同在今年一月原定举办的“中国彩虹先生”比赛现场有人写下的一句话：“革命尚未成功，同志仍需努力”。（文稿版权所有，转载请注明出处“爱白网”）

　　

                               
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　　图片出自《中国日报》／Feng Yongbin：在72岁生日聚会中情绪激动的巴黎。

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By Cao Li (China Daily)

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A lesbian couple pose for photos during a gay rights festival in Qianmen, Beijing. Courtesy of Beijing Tongyu Group

Pensioner's life shows the shift inattitudes towards homosexuality in China but experts say challengesstill lay ahead. Cao Li reports
To many gay men and women, Ba Li is aninspiration. At the age of 72, he has endured decades of humiliationbecause of his sexuality, including being sentenced to a total of sevenyears hard labor. Yet it is his message of hope that resonates mostwith young homosexuals.
His extraordinary life charts the slow butsure transformation in Chinese attitudes towards the gay and lesbiancommunity, and although difficulties still exist, he believes peoplenow enjoy more freedom than ever to express their sexuality.
The pensioner, who asked to be called Ba Li- the same Chinese characters for Paris - to protect his family,invited China Daily to his birthday celebrations at a small restaurantnot far from Xidan, the commercial heart of Beijing.

                               
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"I have lived through sorrows and joys," hesaid after blowing out the candles on his birthday cake, surrounded byseveral gay friends. "I am no longer considered a wrongdoer and I canfinally live my life with my head held high."
At his birthday party Ba Li sang, readpoems and posed for numerous photographs with friends, stopping only tolook at a picture of his boyfriend he kept in his shirt pocket. Many ofhis guests said how much they admired him for his courage in toughertimes.
"I knew I was a woman's soul in man's bodyat very early age," he said, his round face breaking into a broadsmile. He was 16 when he started his first relationship, which lastedfour years. "At the time, homosexuals were called 'rabbits' or othermore derogatory names, and they met in secret at parks, bathhouses orpublic restrooms."
His mother refused to accept his sexuality."One night she sneaked into my bedroom when she thought I was sleepingand checked my body for abnormalities," he said. His parents eventuallyforced him into a marriage that lasted less than six months. Themarriage produced a daughter but he has no contact with her.
In 1977, Ba Li was sentenced to three yearsin a labor re-education camp after being found guilty of sodomy. Hesaid another homosexual reported him to the police. The teacher wasimmediately fired from his job at a respectable high school as thesupervisor felt he had "committed a crime that could never beforgiven", he said.
He was also interred in 1982 and 1984, each time for two years.
"I even suffered discrimination from otherinmates in prison," he said. "Once I gave a young boy a steamed bun outof sympathy and I was beaten like a dog. It was so bad I contemplatedjumping off the top of one of the labor camp buildings." When he walkedfree from the camp in 1986, he said attitudes were already starting tochange. "I began to see more gay people being active within theircircles and the word 'homosexual' was being used more by the media," hesaid.
Unemployed, Ba Li sold maps of Beijing tomake a living and worked as a volunteer to distribute leaflets on AIDSprevention among the gay community. "Police used to take us back to thestation and confiscate the pamphlets because they said they containedevil and pornographic content," he said.
Since the early 1990s, the Chinesegovernment has become increasingly tolerant about homosexuality. By1997, the law that outlawed sodomy was repealed, while homosexualitywas officially removed from the nation's list of mental illnesses in2001.
Li Yinhe, a renowned sexologist with thesociology institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, proposedlegalizing same-sex marriages during the annual session of the NationalPeople's Congress in 2000. However, the suggestion was not publiclydiscussed until 2003 when policymakers met to talk about amending theLaw on Marriage. They decided not to approve same-sex marriage.
Following a nationwide study, the Chinesegovernment estimated in 2004 that the country has between 5 and 10million homosexual men aged 15 to 49.
Despite being open among his friends, Ba Listill hides his relationship from his adopted son. Like many in the gaycommunity, his boyfriend has a wife and family.
Attitudes may have changed butdiscrimination continues to be widespread, while Liu Dalin, asexologist at the sociology college of Shanghai University, estimatedabout 90 percent of homosexuals have or will get married due to familypressure.