GAYS ARRESTED IN BEIJING

There have been reports that over 100 gay men have been arrested in a cruising spot in police raids ahead of China’s National Day holiday.

The Global Times said that the raids took place over two nights in a forested area in northern Beijing and included 20 police vehicles and SWAT teams.

The detained men were fingerprinted at a police station and forced to take blood tests.

“You can’t imagine how deeply over 200 of us were wounded by this experience,” one of the arrested gay men told the newspaper.

Activists say that there are few opportunities for gay men, especially those with limited financial resources, to meet in the city

Homosexuality was decriminalised in China in 1997. In 2001, the Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders formally removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses.