Chinese parents learning to accept homosexuality

A group of Chinese parents gathered in Beijing to call for family acceptance and support for homosexual people.

About two hundred people, who are gays or lesbians, along with their parents, gathered in a small conference room in a modest hotel on the weekend to call for acceptance of homosexuality, reports Xinhua.

"Don't try to fix your child's homosexuality. It can't be changed. Treatment only cause more problems," said Li Baba, parent of a gay who died after suffering prolonged depression, fits of agitation and other mental problems resulting from treatment.

Caitlin Ryan, a researcher with San Francisco State University, said that gay people, whose families are often extreme in their rejection of homosexuality, are three times more likely to contract HIV and eight times more likely to attempt suicide compared to those who are well accepted by their families.