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Steven Zhang, 30, with his strong jaw, looks like he could be a special forces soldier, but he is one of eight men vying to be the first Mr Gay China. The winner of the event in Beijing Friday will represent China in the Worldwide Mr Gay Competition (Feb. 10 to 14) in Oslo. "I signed up for the competition to break the stereotype that gays are sissy AIDS spreaders, to show that we can be decent people," Zhang says. "I believe most people will support us though I'm ready for a storm of criticism too." The pageant has triggered heated debate among Chinese Internet users. In a survey conducted by sohu.com, 1,113 people supported the event while 325 opposed it. Thousands of comments were posted on sina.com and other websites. Supportive comments such as "Everyone has the right to choose" and "It shows China is more and more open" vied with vilification, such as "How disgusting! Gays are perverts" and "The gay pageant is a shame for all Chinese." Media interest went far beyond the organizers' expectation. The phones of Ben Zhang and Niu Niu, the main organizers of Mr Gay China, have been ringing around the clock, mostly from foreign media requesting interviews. Agence France Presse, The Guardian, AP and others are covering the pageant. However, organizers intended the pageant to be low-profile. "We wanted modest media coverage, enough to boost the pride of our contestants and peers and draw some attention from potential sponsors for future events. We did not want to create too much of a disturbance," says Ben Zhang, managing director of the Gayographic social group, which is hosting the pageant. Gayographic had trouble raising money for the event. Companies do not want their brand names associated with gays. "We had trouble getting sponsorship and could only gather around 50,000 yuan from ourselves and our friends for the event," says Ben Zhang. Still, the pageant is to be held at one of Beijing's most prestigious venues, Lan Club, which offered to provide its facilities for free. Photos of the contestants spread rapidly on the Internet despite Ben Zhang and Niu Niu repeatedly asked the media not to publish them after protests from contestants. Despite worries about their privacy, no contestants have withdrawn and organizers have felt no government pressure, Niu Niu says. "Everything is proceeding as planned. The pageant will be held as scheduled." I am a professional editor from http://www.himfr.com/, and my work is to promote a free online trade platform. http://www.himfr.com/ contain a great deal of information about underground detectors,male underwear show,consumer reports heat pumps, welcome to visit!
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