Homosexuality, despite gradual changes, still remains a topic surrounded by a lot of taboo. Therefore, it is not very surprising that homosexuality has ambiguous sides in China. However, Chinese celebrities have always openly admitted their sexuality and been unafraid to speak their minds in front of the entire world. These are the top ten Chinese celebrities who belong to the LGBTQ community.
1. Jin Xing
Jin Xing is a Chinese dancer, TV host, and actress. Born as a male child, Jin had dreamt of getting struck by lightning that would change her into a girl. She went through a sex-changing operation in 1995, after which she adopted three children. She has talked about her struggles in several interviews but now she is happy with her husband and children.
2. Susanna Kwan
Susanna is a well-known Cantonese TVB actor who has played several essential roles in TVB dramas. She had married Michael Lai Siu-Tin in 1982 but divorced him later, and entered into a relationship with Willy Chow. She has always maintained that finding one’s sexuality is a process of exploration and the wrong decisions that are possibly made are completely acceptable.
3. Leslie Cheung
Leslie Cheung was a Hong Kong-Canadian singer and actor who revealed his relationship with Daffy Tong Hok Tak during a concert in 1997. Cheung stated in an interview with the Asian edition of Time magazine, "It’s more appropriate to say I’m bisexual. I’ve had girlfriends. When I was 22 or so, I asked my girlfriend Teresa Mo to marry me".
4. Denise Ho
Denise Ho is a Cantopop singer from Hong Kong. On November 11, 2012, Denise participated in a Hong Kong pride march named ‘Dare to Love,’ in which she openly disclosed her sexual orientation. She came out as a lesbian in front of 4000 participants during the activity.
5. Chet Lam
Chet Lam is an independent folk song-writer and singer who has performed in various TV dramas and commercial songs from a very young age. He publically acknowledged his sexual orientation in an interview with a local newspaper in 2005. After this, he claimed in an interview with the foreign magazine "The advocate" that ‘that there is no Elton John in Hong Kong but only Chet Lam.
6. Gigi Chao
Gigi Chao is the daughter of Hong Kongese billionaire, Cecil Chao and Hong Kongese actress, Yao Wei. In 2006, her pictures had surfaced with her partner Lan Kwai Fong in after which her sexuality became a hot topic. Chao responded with an open letter publically printed in South China Morning Post stating that she is a lesbian. She later married Sean Eav in April 2012 in France.
7. Stanley Kwan
Stanley Kwan is a Chinese film director and producer. In 1996, Kwan came out as gay in his documentary, 'Yang Yin,' which examined the history of Chinese language films through the lens of gender norms and sexuality. He won the award for Best Director in 2001 at Taiwan Golden Horse Award for his gay themed film ‘Lan Yu’ Kwan met his partner William in1989, and the two have been in a relationship for more than 25 years
8. Anthony Wong
Anthony Wong is an alternative singer, composer, and producer. At the end of his concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum in April 2012, he came out as gay, stating, ”people don’t need to guess whether or not I’m gay anymore ….I’m saying: I’m gay. I’m homosexual, G-A-Y.” Since then, he has been promoting legislation against discrimination based on sexual orientation.
9. Lin Xi
Albert Leung Wei Man better known as Lin Xi, he has never publically acknowledged his sexual orientation. He had once stated to his friend Johnnie To in an interview that ‘he could be woman.’ It has been said that Leung and Anthony Wong had a close relationship before, and the latter publicly came out as gay in 2012.
10. Kevin Tsai
Kevin Tsai is a writer and television host from China. In an interview hosted by Li Ao in November 2001, he openly admitted his sexual orientation. Furthermore, he emphasized that Taiwan’s LGBTQ social movements still had a long way to go. Tsai and his partner George have been together for over ten years.
