An estimated 10 million Chinese women are married to gay men, according to retired Qingdao University professor Zhang Beichuan. The wives are often trapped in unhappy unions since they can't easily leave due to Chinese law and the social stigma this would hold, Reuters reported.

Zhang, citing a survey of more than 1,500 Chinese gay men, estimates that 80 to 90 percent of gay men in China intend to marry or have already married.

China's Confucian tradition, together with its one-child policy, has increased pressure on homosexual men to conform to heterosexual norms, Zhang said. But breaking free from such marriages is not easy in China. Divorce rates are rapidly rising but divorce is still considered shameful, especially for women.

Chinese law is quite vague on this issue and offers little help to women who might have difficulties proving their husbands are in homosexual relationships and thus the women can't find a way out through divorce.

(China.org.cn March 9, 2012)

據路透社報道，青島大學退休教師張北川稱，中國約有1000萬婦女與同性戀男子結婚。這些妻子受困于不幸的婚姻，而受中國法律和社會名聲的束縛，她們又不易脫身。

張北川援引對中國1500余名同性戀男子的調查，估算80%至90%的同性戀男子打算或已經結婚。

張北川表示，中國的儒家傳統思想以及獨生子女政策迫使同性戀男子接受異性婚姻。但是，從此類婚姻中解脫在中國并不容易。雖然離婚率越來越高，但是離婚還是被認為是可恥的，特別是對婦女來說。

中國法律在這個問題上很模糊，而對于那些很難證明丈夫是同性戀的婦女，法律提供不了幫助，因此，這些婦女并不能通過離婚找到解脫的途徑。