CHINA — When a 27-year-old woman, surnamed Wang, met the 32-year-old man, surnamed Zhou, she was, in her own words, swept off her feet. The two met one night and, much to her surprise, this charming, humorous stranger proposed. After four months of dating, they got married. But Wang quickly discovered certain quirks about him. On their wedding night, according to a report in the Shanghai Daily, “Zhou slept in a separate room, saying he had a bad cold.” One week later, Zhou had still not moved back in with his wife. As if he were literally paying her off, the daily continues, “When Wang demanded an explanation, Zhou took out a credit card and said, “I know I owe you much and I will try to compensate you in other ways.” He said that his wife could buy whatever she wanted with the card.
Wang grew increasingly suspicious when Zhou, like clockwork, would disappear for hours after receiving a call from a man. Finally, Wang followed the sexless Zhou to a bar and, perhaps confirming her worst suspicions, found him in flagrante delicto with another man. Zhou confessed to her that he was gay, that he felt he had no choice but to marry her due to the enormous shame that would have resulted by his coming out to his parents, then agreed to buy her silence.
For Wang, it wasn’t enough.
She later filed for a divorce and successfully sued Zhou for 800,000 yuan or roughly $US130,000. “An estimated 80 to 90 percent of gay men in China marry,” according to retired Qingdao University Professor Zhang Beichuan. He said that there are nearly 10 million Chinese couples in such marriages, reports the Shanghai Daily.
For others, the story, played out in thousands of other towns, villages and cities across China, hasn’t ended as an expensive and cautionary tale. According to the paper, “Luo Li, a 31-year-old teacher with a PhD, leapt from her 13th-floor apartment in June 2012, after her husband, Cheng Wei, came out online. Her parents demanded 630,000 yuan (US$101,304) in compensation but a district court ruled that Luo was responsible for her actions.
An appeal was heard by the city’s intermediate people’s court. No verdict has been announced.
