Mr. Gay China

[pemberly]

He's so cute!

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February 13, 2010
Chinese Contestant Enters Worldwide Gay Pageant
By EDWARD WONG

BEIJING — He is 25, Muslim and comes from a part of China recently known for deadly ethnic rioting. This weekend, he is competing for the title of Worldwide Mr. Gay.

A man calling himself Xiaodai Muyi, from the western region of Xinjiang, has flown to Oslo to represent China in the international Mr. Gay beauty pageant, despite the Chinese government’s efforts to derail the process, according to supporters here.

As with all such endeavors in China, the journey has been long and winding.

The Chinese delegate at Worldwide Mr. Gay was supposed to have been the winner of Mr. Gay China, a pageant originally scheduled for Jan. 15. The plan was to hold the contest, the first of its kind, on a Friday night in the Lan Club, a den of kitsch in central Beijing, and the winner would have gone on to Norway. But at the last minute, the Chinese authorities shut down the show, saying the organizers did not have the right permits.

Nevertheless, 11 people — the three organizers and eight pageant participants — quietly got together in late January and voted to send one of the contestants to Norway. That turned out to be a man from Xinjiang known publicly only by his nickname, Xiao Dai, or his English name, Andrew. His official pageant name is Xiaodai Muyi, and he landed in Oslo on Tuesday, a day after getting a Norwegian visa.

“After the cancellation, we thought our attempt to educate the Chinese public had failed for now,” Ben Zhang, an organizer of Mr. Gay China, said in a telephone interview on Friday. “By sending someone to Oslo, I guess we’re sending out a message to the world that still China is able to send a representative. He didn’t win the title of Mr. Gay China, but he’s still representing the gay community at such a big event.”

According to the official pageant Web site, the finale takes place on Saturday, to be followed by “a Celebration Party — in the name of love!” Activities this week have included gay handball and visits to the Norwegian Parliament and the Nobel Peace Center.

Xiao Dai has been trying to maintain a low profile, and he could not be reached by telephone on Friday.

“His schedule is very packed,” Mr. Zhang said.

The English-language edition of Global Times, a state-run newspaper, published a short article on Xiao Dai on Friday, though the newspaper misspelled his name. Xiao Dai told the reporter in an earlier interview that he is the team leader of a gay group in Xinjiang, general manager of a local counseling group and chairman of a gay Web site.

“Organizing gay events in Xinjiang is much harder than in Beijing,” he said, according to the newspaper. “Because it is against religion.”

Global Times reported that Xiao Dai is Hui, an ethnic group that generally practices Islam and is common in northwest China. Mr. Zhang confirmed that Xiao Dai is known to be Hui. But he has also chosen to represent himself at times as Han, the dominant ethnic group in China, Mr. Zhang said.

Ethnicity is a delicate issue in Xinjiang, where Uighurs, the largest Muslim group in the region, lead an uneasy coexistence with the Han. Hui, Kazakhs and other Muslim groups also live in Xinjiang. Last July, fatal rioting broke out in the regional capital of Urumqi, as frustrated Uighurs rampaged through the streets in the deadliest ethnic violence in China in decades.

Throughout China, sexual orientation is also a delicate matter. Though gay life is becoming more vibrant, many gay Chinese still stay closeted. China decriminalized gay sex in 1997, and homosexuality was taken off the list of official psychological disorders in 2001. Last summer, during the nation’s first Gay Pride celebration, in Shanghai, the police canceled several events.

Mr. Gay China was canceled last month after it caught the attention of officials. Global Times and Xinhua, the state news agency, had run prominent articles on the pageant in advance of the event.

“To be honest, right after the cancellation, we were all sort of nervous, edgy and a little scared maybe,” Mr. Zhang said, adding that the organizers and contestants made a group decision not to send someone to Norway. But they reconsidered after the organizers of Worldwide Mr. Gay showed enthusiasm in having a delegate from China, he added.

“The headquarters in Oslo was very insistent about this,” he said.

Because Xiao Dai only got his visa at the last minute, there is no photograph or profile of him on the pageant Web site, as there is for the other contestants. But there is a list of the 30 countries or territories that have sent delegates, and China is on it.

reposted from nytimes

[PJ]

He does look cute in that picture, and actually more masculine-appearing than many straight Chinese dudes.

[Trien Chieu]

He does look cute in that picture, and actually more masculine-appearing than many straight Chinese dudes.

Are you sure about this??
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[Lady Zhuge]

I don't find this guy to be cute or good looking.

Are you sure about this??

He did say "many," not "all."

[Dirt]

Me neither. But I'm not into men.

[forgot password]

haha, this dude looks very normal, or even manlier than some of my friends who are straight. but it's nothing to be surprised about here, there're 3 types of gays, the first one comprises of dudes who wannabe like girls inside out, the second one are dudes who look absolutely normal, and the last consists of dudes who are obsessed with body building, dudes of the last type look very macho and have arms that may be bigger than lots of normal guys' thighs, the dude in the first post falls into the 2nd category.

[convoy]

Yeah, not all gays are flaming queens as often portrayed on TV.