Why China Should Embrace Homosexuality
By Andy Heath
I have always had a great respect for China and Chinese culture. When I was a child, I was fascinated with the Great Wall and with a land and language that seemed so vastly different from my own. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to take an basic Mandarin Chinese course, and it really was wonderful. I used to even want to go spend some time in China teaching English, as I know this is of great interest to the Chinese right now.
I also know that China has a terrible population problem, as I understand they feel they simply have too many people. They have promulgated policy to ensure that their population decreases over the years, and one such policy is that the Chinese may only have one child (at least that is the way I understand it).
I also know they prefer boys over girls, as girls are the ones that have children. As an example I once read in _Ishmael_ by Daniel Quinn, if you have 100 women and one man, you will have at least 100 babies, but if you have 100 men and one woman, you will not have nearly that many. That is my understanding of why the Chinese want to limit the number of females that are born in the country, and this has largely been their plan for population control for decades.
I have a suggestion though. You see, in China, homosexuality is illegal. I do not believe this is a religious issue because the Chinese government frowns on religion. I believe the Chinese feel that homosexuality is outside the norm of their culture, though I could be wrong.
My suggestion is that the Chinese embrace homosexuality as a great ally in their battle against a population quantity that is out of control. Perhaps if they allowed men and women to be openly gay, these gay men and women would not feel pressure from their families to get married and procreate. In that way, homosexuality would be an excellent contributing factor to population control.
I have and will always have immense respect for the Chinese and their fascinating language and culture. I also believe that if the Chinese embrace homosexuality, they will find it is in line with their culture and will help their population control in the long run.
