Moldy Peaches

The land of the rising sun is truly modernizing - with baby steps. Another sure sign of this transformation is the first undergraduate course on gay studies ever offered at a Chinese university begins this fall. For what it is worth, the course has drawn far more applicants than the 100 available seats.

The course, at Fudan University in Shanghai, will focus on health, legal, and social issues related to homosexuality in China. The supplemental funds for the course come from the Chi Heng Foundation. The Hong Kong-based foundation says on its Web site that its mission is to finance care for people affected by AIDS, and education projects related to AIDS, AIDS prevention, and antidiscrimination.

China stopped classifying homosexuality as a mental illness in 2001, but gay people still face discrimination and social pressures.

According to many experts the new course's popularity stemmed from ignorance about gay issues in China. Chinese students don't know much about homosexuality and, apparently, really want to know more.

A graduate student at Fudan agreed. "Students are just curious," said Laura Liu, who is studying journalism. "Homosexuality is a hot topic among students. Also, it's controversial, and students like controversial topics."

Gao Yanning, who in 2003 started a graduate course at Fudan's School of Public Health focusing on medical issues related to homosexuality, welcomed the popularity of the new undergraduate class. "It's good that our students are concerned about society and want to learn more about this," he said.