Rainbow flag hoisted for the gay at UK pavilion

People stand by a rainbow umbrella at the UK pavilion park where a party was held for Shanghai's gay community on July 14, 2010. [Asianewsphoto]

SHANGHAI - The UK pavilion hosted a party for Shanghai's gay community at its pavilion park on Wednesday as part of its weeklong focus on civic society.

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Organizers of the event said they plan to support Shanghai's second annual Gay Pride Week, which was moved from June to late October, when the Expo ends. It will feature an expanded version of the Gay Olympics that debuted last June, as well as a pink picnic and a pool party.

A carnival-like public parade, typical of the Gay Pride format, is unlikely as it was banned last year for public security reasons.

"You'd expect the UK to support this kind of event. London Pride is one of the biggest gay pride events in the world," said UK pavilion spokeswoman Katherine Dixon.

"It gives a lot to the city and has a great carnival atmosphere."

"We want to have more of a Chinese Pride this year, not just one that's all about foreigners having a party," said Linda Li, a member of Shanghai LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender), which organizes the festival and is mostly run by ex-pats.

"We're hoping to align ourselves more with the Asian gay community as a whole," said Li.

Shanghai held its inaugural Gay Pride Week last year from June 7-13, the first event of its kind staged on the Chinese mainland. There was no mass parade but 3,000 people attended the weeklong activities, which included art exhibitions, movie screenings and indoor parties.

Hong Kong held a similar festival in 2008. Beijing got involved last month with its Jing Pride. This saw drag queens and straight guys dressed as women raising money for AIDS charities and raising the profile of the conservative capital's LGBT community.

The biggest irony about Wednesday's party was that it was held at night, at a period when the city's gay community is trying to "get gays out of the bathhouses and into the sunlight," he said.

In a move to promote this, the Rainbow League organizes numerous gay sports, a gay English corner at one of the city's restaurants and other daytime events. This Saturday it will celebrate its second anniversary with a camouflage beach party and the final of Season 1 of "Gay Idol", a mock reference to the TV show American Idol.

"Gay people love karaoke," said Mahoney. "The problem is most gay ex-pats here think the gay scene is restricted to the nightlife. We're at a stage now where we'd like to change that view."

Wednesday's party inside the Expo was fairly subdued. There was no music, no fancy dress - apart from the presence of two transgendered invitees - and little to indicate it was anything other than a regular gathering.

Two dozen members of Shanghai's male gay community turned up but the only female couple turned out to a pair of straight Shanghainese saleswomen looking to expand their customer base for a French brand of male cosmetics.

The absence of Shanghai's lesbian community hints at its "fractured, hidden and often violent nature", said Mahoney. The city has about 12 gay and three lesbian bars.