'Love Is Not A Choice': LGBT Ad Campaign Launches In China For Valentine's Day

The Huffington Post
Lila Shapiro
Original Article:  huff.to/1FiWUgR

This Valentine’s Day, a group of gay and lesbian Chinese activists and their American allies are hoping to bring a little more love to a country that has an estimated 60 million LGBT people, most of them still in the closet.

A series of ads appeared on social media sites in China on Friday. They show gay, lesbian and straight couples relaxing at home. In one, a man adjusts his boyfriend’s tie. In another, two women hold hands at a kitchen table. The text beside the photos reads: “Love is not a choice. We did not choose to be homosexual. We just are. Happily, the world is big enough for all of us.” (The text accompanying the photos of straight couples reads, “We did not choose to be heterosexual.")

David Li, 35, is one of the lead organizers of the China LGBT Awareness Campaign. He said he hopes the ads will generate a public conversation about LGBT issues in China and encourage LGBT people to come out.

“The majority [in China] still think being gay is either perverted or a kind of illness,” Li told the Huffington Post. “And of course, due to the general censorship, it’s extremely difficult to get positive LGBT information out to the public.”

The Internet does help, Li said. Back in 2001, he came across a website that described a gay couple’s love story. “It was really rare for a gay couple to share their love story in public,” he said. “That’s how I identified myself as a gay man.”

Full text of article available at link below:  huff.to/1FiWUgR