'Half of China's gay people reluctant to come out in open'

Beijing: About half of China's gay people, whose numbers are on the rise were reluctant to come out of the closet contrary to Chinese lesbians who would like to come out in open, a survey on LGBT community has said.

The survey was conducted by Blued, a gay smartphone hookup app, and collected responses from 16,690 LGBT people and 3,310 non-LGBT people.

About 55 per cent of gay and bisexual men as well as 49 per cent of lesbian and bisexual women said they were not likely to come out over the next five years.

However 39 per cent of lesbians planned to do so, compared to 23 per cent of gay men, state-run Global Times quoted.

The poll found that family pressure and fears about public acceptance are the major factors that keep people in the closet ? 75 per cent of respondents spoke about family worries and 61 per cent mentioned public perception.

Some 70 per cent of LGBT respondents said they live in second-tier or other less developed cities like Chengdu and Chongqing in Southwest China, a greater proportion than in last year's survey, which according to the report indicates the LGBT communities in those cities are increasingly more confident and open to the public.

The survey also showed that 22 per cent of gay men and 19 per cent of lesbians live in major metropolises, such as Beijing and Shanghai.

Around 8 per cent of gay men and 9 per cent of lesbians live in towns and villages.

Although there are no official statistics, it is estimated that China has 50 million to 70 million people who identify as LGBT, based on typical numbers in other countries.

A report from WorkForLGBT, a nonprofit business network in Beijing, said those they surveyed in China's cities are not only doing well financially, they also enjoy traveling.

So much so that recent reports said gay and lesbian?tourism is gaining traction in China.