Red to pink army

Thu 22 Jun 2006
Poppy Sebag-Montefiore looks at how the digital age has helped the lesbian community in Beijing.

Eighty years since the Red Army was formed, and forty years since the cultural revolution, China is going through a pink revolution.

Attitudes towards gays and lesbians are changing. Although homosexuality was never specifically outlawed under communism, it was regarded as a social disgrace.

Gays were viewed as politically suspect and were persecuted under "hooliganism" laws.

But as attitudes towards homosexuals have become more liberal, the internet has revolutionised the gay scene.

>>Watch the report