The Mr Gay China event was thought to mark a new openness toward the gay community in
China.

Organizers said police informed them it could not go ahead because they had not applied
"according to the procedures".

Homosexuality was illegal in China until 1997, and officials described it as a mental illness until
2001.

The event's organizer, Ben Zhang, said he had been hoping the event would mark another step
towards greater awareness of gay people in China.

One of the judges, Weng Xiaogang, told the AFP news agency: "In my opinion, I believe it [the
cancellation] had something to do with the issue of homosexuality."

The eight contestants were competing for the right to represent China at the Worldwide Mr Gay
pageant next month in Norway.

The event, in an upmarket Beijing nightclub, would have included a fashion show and question-
and-answer sessions with the contestants.

Some 150 people who turned up to watch, many of them from media organizations, were left to
view a deserted stage.

Contestant Jiang Bo, 29, told Reuters: "It's a disaster. I'm full of disappointment. I thought the
government was becoming more and more tolerant.

"They were making a big step. The whole world was thinking China was doing a very good
thing. But now I think everybody will be disappointed."

In June last year, the organizers of China's first Gay Pride Festival were told to cancel two of
their sessions - and that they would face "severe consequences" if they went ahead.