Giventheseworld-widetrends，itisnotsurprisingthatthisissuehasbeguntoreceiveattentioninChina.TotheforeignexpertswhotraveledtoShanghaifortheJanuary2006workshop，theemergenceofthisissueasamatterofpublicdiscussionanddebateinChinaisafascinatingaswellasimportantdevelopment.Itisparticularlyfascinatingtoalegalscholarlikemyself，whohastaughtandwrittenabouttheeffortstoaddressvarioustypesofdiscriminationinmyowncountry.
WhatwearewitnessinginChinaistheverybeginningofpublicdiscussionaboutissuesofsexualorientationandtherightsofgaypeopleandadiscussionthattakesplaceinthedistinctiveculturalcontextofChina.Atthispreliminarystage，thechallengesarefundamentalones：howtopromotewithinthebroadersocietyabasicunderstanding，acceptance，andtolerationofhomosexualssotheycanlivemorehonestly，havemorefulfilledlives，anddevelopamoresecureidentity.Theobstaclestothisaremany，buttheyseemsomewhatdifferentfromtheobstaclesthathaveexistedintheUnitedStatesandEurope.Wehavepowerfulorganizedreligionsthathavelongcondemnedhomosexuality.China’straditionsaredifferent，buttheJanuaryworkshopmadeclearthatelementsinChinaowntraditionsmayhaveasomewhatsimilareffectespeciallyConfucianidealsoffilialobligation，which，amongotherthings，createstrongpressurestomarryandproducechildrentocarrythefamilylineforward.