Darkside Rainbow

Or so my Chinese ex-boyfriend tells me; I’ll have to take his word for it, considering that I only speak three words of Cantonese and only one of them is fit for polite company.

So what does tai hou lah have to do with anything?

Quite a bit when you check out Chinese website phoenixtv.com. (You may need to use a free website translation service like Babel Fish to navigate, or you could just load the English version of the site.) Starting tomorrow, Phoenix TV will be host to a new Chinese show called “Tongxing Xianglian” or “Connecting Homosexuals” - which, according to this CNN.com article, is “the country’s first show to focus on gay issues and the first with an openly homosexual host.”

Host Didier Zheng (left) is looking pretty fabulous himself, with his laid-back air of casual stylishness, that trendy little puff of disheveled hair, and a touch of James Dean in that “rebel with a cause” look. More than just a pretty face, though, Zheng is an educated activist and member of the Chi Heng Foundation.

Considering China’s history of tolerance (or lack thereof) towards homosexuality since the formation of the People’s Republic of China, this is a rather heartening step, and one taken in a relatively short amount of time since homosexuality was finally removed from the recognized list of mental disorders in 2001. I’m honestly not sure, considering the level of government censorship of media in China, how freely Zheng will be able to speak on his show…but I’ll be watching anyway and hoping to get my hands on an English-language translation (or a very patient ex-boyfriend) so I can follow along.

In the light of Zheng’s activist roots I’d like to hope that he’ll be able to make large steps in promoting public acceptance of homosexuality in modern Chinese culture as something more than a despicable influence of Western culture, but in truth I can’t help but wonder how long the show will last before it’s pulled from the ‘net. That’s not my rampant cynicism and pessimism speaking; that’s an unfortunate dose of realism when looking at the facts that 1. 2003 was the first time that gay rights were discussed openly when the proposition of allowing homosexual marriages was rejected, and 2. the Chinese government keeps a stranglehold on what’s considered acceptable for public internet consumption. One wrong word and the show could be culled in a heartbeat.

For now, though, I’ll swallow my cynicism and look on the bright side: people worldwide are taking steps to acknowledge homosexuals as accepted, functioning, and - most importantly - normal members of society. Even in places where free speech is often suppressed, we’ve been given a voice, and a chance to speak out on our own behalf.

I’d say that’s pretty tai hou lah, myself.

gay tv, didier zheng, china, Tongxing Xianglian, Connecting Homosexuals