Are homosexuals financially more secure?

Last year, 30-year-old Jerry Li has spent over 100,000 yuan ($16,330) on designer clothes and taken three luxury vacations with his partner abroad. While most men his age are concerned with the costs of starting a family or buying an apartment, Li lives a seemingly more expensive lifestyle compared to his straight friends.

"Being gay is stressful enough, so why not live it up a little," said Li, who works for an advertising company in Beijing.

The website danlan.org, which is concerned with homosexual issues, and the organization Shanghai LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) Professionals, recently conducted a study comparing homosexual and heterosexual people regarding their spending ability and income. The report focused on the white-collar workers between 20 to 35 years old, living in first-tier and second-tire cities. About 60 percent of them held entry-level positions, and another 20 percent held mid-level managerial positions.

The report concluded that the homosexual community spend twice more money on luxury items such as clothes, bags, watches and vacations abroad.

The CEO of danlan.org Geng Le said that homosexuals like Li have this higher spending capability because they usually don't have the burden of a family.

"Chinese society is not open to homosexuals yet, so me and my partner can't get married and we don't plan to adopt a child together," said Li.

"Not having to worry about the expenses of marriage and raising a child is the main reason why homosexuals have more money to spend," he said.

This independent lifestyle that most Chinese gay community lead naturally results in them joining different social circles compared to the heterosexual people. According to Hu Zhijun, the director of Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) China, a nationwide non-governmental organization, these different social circles can play a factor in their different spending habits. For example, unlike heterosexuals who spend a lot of money sending cash gifts to their friends for weddings and baby showers, homosexuals are rarely involved in such celebrations and so have the opportunity to spend money on other activities.

"The different spending habits of homosexuals make them appear richer than heterosexuals," said Hu, who added that the belief that the gay community make more money than heterosexuals is a widely held misconception.

"According to our research, there are no significant differences in salaries between homosexuals and heterosexuals," said Steven Paul Bielinski, the founder of Shanghai LGBT Professionals.

"You may think I play hard, but I also work hard, and so do most homosexuals I know," said Li, who has yet to reveal his sexuality to his colleagues in the workplace, believing that discrimination against homosexuals still exists.

"I am afraid that my boss would value me less, or even fire me if he found out that I am gay. This insecure feeling has kept me working hard," said Li. According to the previous report, 95 percent of homosexuals in China keep their sexuality in the workplace hidden from their colleagues.

Where homosexuals did score higher than heterosexuals in the report was in education, with 60 percent of homosexuals surveyed having received education above a bachelor degree level, compared to the 50 percent of heterosexuals.

The reason behind this high number of educated homosexuals, according to Geng, is that study and work are excuses for not entering a traditional marriage.

However, not all homosexuals have the privilege to live the lifestyles they desire. "Only financially independent people can stay true to themselves," explained Hu, who describes how his gay cousin living in a village had to hide his sexuality and marry a woman because he was financially dependent on his parents.

As a minority group in society, homosexuals have to overcome more difficulties than others, explains Li. "Homosexuals have to struggle to live the life they want, and after working hard we like to reward ourselves with a certain luxury lifestyle. That's why others may perceive us as being rich," he said.