While Xiao worries about the economic implications, 66-year-old Xu Meifeng claims herson coming out caused her medical problems.
"I felt like I was pushed over the edge when my son came home two years ago andbrought his foreign boyfriend. I couldn't even stand hearing the word 'homosexual'," Xusays, adding she has had insomnia since that day.
She admits worrying about her 32-year-old's lack of a prospective daughter-in-law, butit never even occurred to her that he was gay.
There was no one in her family or among her friends she could confide in.
"I would simply turn away every time my friends talked about their grandkids."
For both Xiao and Xu, help is at hand with the support network Parents, Families andFriends of Lesbians and Gays. The NGO comprises 150 parents of lesbians and gaysin China.
Hu Zhijun, executive director of PFLAG China, says the group not only supports thefamilies and friends of gay people, but also helps the individual during the difficult"coming out" process.
Research at San Francisco State University shows that gay and transgender youthsrejected by their families are a very high-risk group for health and mental healthproblems. As 21 to 25 years old, they are more than eight times as likely to attemptsuicide, and six times as likely to succumb to severe depression.
"Such rates are even higher in China given the fact there is a greater emphasis onfamily in this country and that Chinese parents are rather controlling," Hu says.
PFLAG has set up a helpline to promote better understanding between parents andchildren (400-820-211, Monday to Friday), manned by parents of lesbians and gays,who share their stories and experiences.
Fan Xiyun, 56, from Fujian's Nanping is one of them. Her 24-year-old son ZhangLingxuan revealed his sexual orientation in 2012.
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Temperatures recorded since the end of November have marked the lowest to hit China in 28 years
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