Same-sex marriage in China? 1321 but see no problem with others doing so(46 per cent).39 China's divorce rate is also increasing.In 2007,the number of divorces grew 18.2 per cent to 1.4 million couples.The rise is attributed to the lack of stability of marriage due to increased migration and,perhaps more importantly,a 2003 policy that streamlined the process of divorce and dropped the fee to 10 yuan,less than two US dollars.40 Palmer notes that marriage laws have been continually modified since the founding of the PRC in order to accommodate for reforms like the one-child policy.41 That is to say,marriage has long been used by the state as an instrument for other purposes. Having explored attitudes toward marriage in general,I now examine positions on homosexuality.While homosexuality has not entered the realm of 'normalcy'in Asia,the establishment of gay rights,including marriage,is not unforeseeable from a cultural perspective.Altman argues that the destruction of old practices increases public acceptance of homosexuality.In other Asian polities,traditional means of regulating sexuality have declined alongside the collapse of arranged marriages in the region.42 In China,employment opportunities in large cities have given those who might feel uncomfortable in the traditional world where they grew up (for example,smaller cities and rural areas)a way out.While anti-gay discrimination still exists,there is no strong injunction against homosexuality similar to that in more religious societies.In fact,homosexuality has been sporadically tolerated throughout China,43 and there is evidence of same-sex marriages among women in Southern China in the nineteenth century.44 On the whole,homosexuality is not actively suppressed or persecuted in China It is more accurately characterised as 'obscured'.45 Gay and lesbian activists speak of three dominant attitudes towards homosexuality:ignorance (the most prevalent attitude,particularly in countryside,where homosexuals are often assumed to not exist in China),ambivalence (more common in cities where citizens know that homosexuals exist but do not pay much attention to them,expressing neither support nor condemnation),and support (the rarest attitude,but growing among young Chinese in the most developed cities in China). Li Yinhe,the sociologist leading the charge for a same-sex marriage law in China,recently conducted a telephone survey of 400 people in large and small cities throughout China.46 The survey revealed conflicting attitudes towards gays and lesbians.While only 7.5 per cent of respondents reported that they knew a homosexual,twenty per cent of respondents saw nothing wrong with homosexu- ality,40 per cent found it completely wrong,and 30 per cent were somewhere in between.Sixty per cent of respondents said that they would be friends with a 39 Xinhua (5 September 2007). 40 Ibid.(25 January 2008). 41 Palmer,Re-Emergence'. 42 Dennis Altman,Sexuality and Globalization'.Sexuality Research Social Policy,1:1 (2004). Pp.63-8. 43 M.P.Lau and M.L.Ng.Homosexuality in Chinese Culture',Culture,Medicine Psychiatry.13 ,(1989),pp.465-88. 44 Nancy D.Polikoff,We Will Get What We Ask For:Why Legalizing Gay and Lesbian Marriage Will Not "Dismantle the Legal Structure of Gender in Every Marriage",Virginia Law Review,79 (1993),Pp.1535-50. 45 K.Zhang and E.J.Beck.Changing Sexual Attitutes and Behaviour in China',AIDS Care,11:5 (1999),pp.581-9. 46(http://blog.sina.com/cn/s/blog_473d533601009vfr.html)accessed 10 July 2008.but see no problem with others doing so (46 per cent).39 China’s divorce rate is also increasing. In 2007, the number of divorces grew 18.2 per cent to 1.4 million couples. The rise is attributed to the lack of stability of marriage due to increased migration and, perhaps more importantly, a 2003 policy that streamlined the process of divorce and dropped the fee to 10 yuan, less than two US dollars.40 Palmer notes that marriage laws have been continually modified since the founding of the PRC in order to accommodate for reforms like the one-child policy.41 That is to say, marriage has long been used by the state as an instrument for other purposes. Having explored attitudes toward marriage in general, I now examine positions on homosexuality. While homosexuality has not entered the realm of ‘normalcy’ in Asia, the establishment of gay rights, including marriage, is not unforeseeable from a cultural perspective. Altman argues that the destruction of old practices increases public acceptance of homosexuality. In other Asian polities, traditional means of regulating sexuality have declined alongside the collapse of arranged marriages in the region.42 In China, employment opportunities in large cities have given those who might feel uncomfortable in the traditional world where they grew up (for example, smaller cities and rural areas) a way out. While anti-gay discrimination still exists, there is no strong injunction against homosexuality similar to that in more religious societies. In fact, homosexuality has been sporadically tolerated throughout China,43 and there is evidence of same-sex marriages among women in Southern China in the nineteenth century.44 On the whole, homosexuality is not actively suppressed or persecuted in China. It is more accurately characterised as ‘obscured’.45 Gay and lesbian activists speak of three dominant attitudes towards homosexuality: ignorance (the most prevalent attitude, particularly in countryside, where homosexuals are often assumed to not exist in China), ambivalence (more common in cities where citizens know that homosexuals exist but do not pay much attention to them, expressing neither support nor condemnation), and support (the rarest attitude, but growing among young Chinese in the most developed cities in China). Li Yinhe, the sociologist leading the charge for a same-sex marriage law in China, recently conducted a telephone survey of 400 people in large and small cities throughout China.46 The survey revealed conflicting attitudes towards gays and lesbians. While only 7.5 per cent of respondents reported that they knew a homosexual, twenty per cent of respondents saw nothing wrong with homosexu￾ality, 40 per cent found it completely wrong, and 30 per cent were somewhere in between. Sixty per cent of respondents said that they would be friends with a 39 Xinhua (5 September 2007). 40 Ibid. (25 January 2008). 41 Palmer, ‘Re-Emergence’. 42 Dennis Altman, ‘Sexuality and Globalization’, Sexuality Research & Social Policy, 1:1 (2004), pp. 63–8. 43 M. P. Lau and M. L. Ng, ‘Homosexuality in Chinese Culture’, Culture, Medicine & Psychiatry, 13 (1989), pp. 465–88. 44 Nancy D. Polikoff, ‘We Will Get What We Ask For: Why Legalizing Gay and Lesbian Marriage Will Not “Dismantle the Legal Structure of Gender in Every Marriage”’, Virginia Law Review, 79 (1993), pp. 1535–50. 45 K. Zhang and E. J. Beck, ‘Changing Sexual Attitutes and Behaviour in China’, AIDS Care, 11:5 (1999), pp. 581–9. 46 {http://blog.sina.com/cn/s/blog_473d533601009vfr.html} accessed 10 July 2008. Same-sex marriage in China? 1321