GaypeoplearebecominganoticeablesocialpresenceinpartsofthePeople’sRepublicofChina.Thisphenomenonhasyieldedacertainamountofsocialanxiety.Parentsareanxiousthattheironechildwillnotproducegrandchildren；prejudicedpeoplearedisgustedthattwomenortwowomenwouldbecomeintimatewithoneanother；citizensofallsortsfindhomosexualitymysteriousandthereforealittlefrightening.Therearereportsofprivateaswellaspublic“discrimination”againstthesehomosexuals.Assumingthistobetrue，shouldanti-gaydiscriminationbeamatterforsocialorlegalconcern？Ifso，doesexperienceinotherpartsoftheworldsuggestmeasuresthatmightbetakenbythestate？
1.Whatis“discrimination”asappliedtolesbiansandgaymen？
Animportantpreliminaryquestionis：Whatcountsasdiscriminationagainstlesbiansandgaymen？“Discrimination”istreatingsimilarthingsdifferently-ortreatingdifferentthingsthesame.Forexample，homosexualintercoursecannotproducechildren；therefore，thestate’spopulation-controlprogramisproperlylimitedtoheterosexualmarriedorcohabitingcouples.Leavingoutgaymalecouplesisnot“discrimination”againstthem.Otherexclusionsdoconstitutediscrimination，asdopersecutions（thetargetingofaclassofpersonsforspecialpenalties），andsometimesevenafailuretoprotect.Considersomeexamples.
（a）TargetedAnti-GayPersecutionsandViolence.Thesearestatepoliciesvilifyinghomosexualsasasocialthreatandseekingtoidentify，detain，andpurgethesepeoplefromsociety.Manycivilizedcountriestodaywonderwhetherthisisworthseriousdiscussion，butgaypeoplehavebeensubjecttosuchpersecutionsthroughouthumanhistory，especiallyintheWest.Between1945and1970，mostgovernmentsinNorthAmericaandEuropeactivelypersecutedlesbiansandgaymen-arrestingthemforconsensualhomosexualactivities，confiningthemtomentalinstitutionsandprisons，subjectingthesepeopletotortureandexperimentalmedical“treatments”，andseizingtheirprivatecorrespondenceandtheirliterature（Eskridge，1999）.Thisisnotonlyanexampleofdiscrimination，butalsoofthewayinwhichdiscriminationcanbepartofalargerprogramofsocialcontrol.