TIMOTHY HILDEBRANDT and move to urban centers,which are often more accepting of homosexuality and usually boast established LGBT communities.36 Second,advances in information technology have increased the ability for previously disparate gays and lesbians to network.A pager hotline was created in 1997 to disseminate information about social activities for gays and lesbians in Beijing.Free telephone hotlines were later established to service these populations.37 Today,Internet-based communities are particularly crucial for gays and lesbians who live in smaller towns.Thus,economic development has provided an important opportunity to 'come out'and the means to coalesce as a community. The most important factor in the emergence of LGBT activism in China has been the outbreak,spread,and subsequent government interest in HIV/AIDS.38 This public health crisis remains one of the most powerful explanatory variables for the rise of LGBT groups worldwide.39 As an unintended byproduct of economic development (and the increased movement of people within China and across its national boundaries)HIV reached all 31 provinces by 1998.40 Seven years later,an estimated 650,000 people were living with HIV and 75,000 with AIDS;70,000 new infections and 25,000 AIDS-related deaths occurred in 2005 alone.By 2005,44%of total HIV/AIDS cases were spread sexually:20%from commercial sex workers,17% from different-sex partners of infected individuals,and 7%homosexual male sex. 1 Government action on HIV/AIDS has been sluggish,but in recent years policies have increased in number and improved in substance.As early as 1989,Beijing passed policies designed to combat the emerging problem of HIV/AIDS through education and awareness campaigns.A decade later,these policies were finally backed by significant funding.In 1996,AIDS-related funds in the government were just over US$500,000. By 2000,the figure had increased three times,and reached nearly US$10 million annually in 2001.The state's first powerful and coordinated effort to combat the crisis came in 2006 when the central government issued the Five-Year Plan to Control HIV/ AIDS.42 Two years later,a three-year program was announced,increasing funding and coordination for 'education and community mobilization'to prevent HIV/AIDS.Gay men have been a key focus for these efforts.On 30 November 2006,the Ministry of Health pledged to send AIDS prevention volunteers to gay groups and included gay men in the Five-Year Plan.By 2008,the government had launched the first national program devoted to tackling the spread of the virus exclusively among gay men. These policies affect LGBT activism in two ways:first,they give activists a signal that these are areas in which they can conduct activities;second,because the central 36.Lax enforcement of the hukou(residency permit)system contributes to the ease of movement of rural residents into urban areas.See Kam Wing Chan,The Chinese hukou system at 50',Eurasian Geography and Economic350,(2009),pp.197-221. 37.Xiaoping He,Chinese queer women organizing in the 1990s',in Ping Chun Hsiung.Maria Jaschok and Cecilia Milwertz,eds,Chinese Women Organizing (New York:Berg,2001). 38.Wilson,"Introduction',discusses the way in which natural and public health disasters can create political opportunities for NGOs in China. 39.Altman,'Global gaze/global gays',p.425. 40.Zunyou Wu,Kenming Rou and Haixia Cai,'The HIV/AIDS epidemic in China:history,current strategies and future challenges'.AIDS Education and Prevention 16(Supp.A),(2004).pp.7-17. 41.Ministry of Health PRC,2005 Update on the HIV/AIDS Epidemic Response in China,Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS,World Health Organization (2006). 42.Wu et al..'The HIV/AIDS epidemic in China'. 852and move to urban centers, which are often more accepting of homosexuality and usually boast established LGBT communities.36 Second, advances in information technology have increased the ability for previously disparate gays and lesbians to network. A pager hotline was created in 1997 to disseminate information about social activities for gays and lesbians in Beijing. Free telephone hotlines were later established to service these populations.37 Today, Internet-based communities are particularly crucial for gays and lesbians who live in smaller towns. Thus, economic development has provided an important opportunity to ‘come out’ and the means to coalesce as a community. The most important factor in the emergence of LGBT activism in China has been the outbreak, spread, and subsequent government interest in HIV/AIDS.38 This public health crisis remains one of the most powerful explanatory variables for the rise of LGBT groups worldwide.39 As an unintended byproduct of economic development (and the increased movement of people within China and across its national boundaries) HIV reached all 31 provinces by 1998.40 Seven years later, an estimated 650,000 people were living with HIV and 75,000 with AIDS; 70,000 new infections and 25,000 AIDS-related deaths occurred in 2005 alone. By 2005, 44% of total HIV/AIDS cases were spread sexually: 20% from commercial sex workers, 17% from different-sex partners of infected individuals, and 7% homosexual male sex.41 Government action on HIV/AIDS has been sluggish, but in recent years policies have increased in number and improved in substance. As early as 1989, Beijing passed policies designed to combat the emerging problem of HIV/AIDS through education and awareness campaigns. A decade later, these policies were finally backed by significant funding. In 1996, AIDS-related funds in the government were just over US$500,000. By 2000, the figure had increased three times, and reached nearly US$10 million annually in 2001. The state’s first powerful and coordinated effort to combat the crisis came in 2006 when the central government issued the Five-Year Plan to Control HIV/ AIDS.42 Two years later, a three-year program was announced, increasing funding and coordination for ‘education and community mobilization’ to prevent HIV/AIDS. Gay men have been a key focus for these efforts. On 30 November 2006, the Ministry of Health pledged to send AIDS prevention volunteers to gay groups and included gay men in the Five-Year Plan. By 2008, the government had launched the first national program devoted to tackling the spread of the virus exclusively among gay men. These policies affect LGBT activism in two ways: first, they give activists a signal that these are areas in which they can conduct activities; second, because the central 36. Lax enforcement of the hukou (residency permit) system contributes to the ease of movement of rural residents into urban areas. See Kam Wing Chan, ‘The Chinese hukou system at 50’, Eurasian Geography and Economics 50, (2009), pp. 197 –221. 37. Xiaoping He, ‘Chinese queer women organizing in the 1990s’, in Ping Chun Hsiung, Maria Jaschok and Cecilia Milwertz, eds, Chinese Women Organizing (New York: Berg, 2001). 38. Wilson, ‘Introduction’, discusses the way in which natural and public health disasters can create political opportunities for NGOs in China. 39. Altman, ‘Global gaze/global gays’, p. 425. 40. Zunyou Wu, Kenming Rou and Haixia Cai, ‘The HIV/AIDS epidemic in China: history, current strategies and future challenges’, AIDS Education and Prevention 16(Supp. A), (2004), pp. 7–17. 41. Ministry of Health PRC, 2005 Update on the HIV/AIDS Epidemic Response in China, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, World Health Organization (2006). 42. Wu et al., ‘The HIV/AIDS epidemic in China’. TIMOTHY HILDEBRANDT 852