Fast facts: Gay rights struggle

February 2009 Beijing's "happy couples" launch campaign for same-sex marriages.

June 2009 Shanghai hosts first gay pride festival.

November 2009 Government-backed gay bar opens in Dali, Yunan Province, but its opening is delayed.

January 2010 First Mr Gay China pageant is shut down by police.

February 2010 Mr Gay China contestant Xiaodai Muyione wins fourth place at the Mr Gay World pageant.

June 2010 Hundreds of gay Beijingers celebrate with a gay pride party in Beijing.

June 2010 A gay man files a lawsuit against the Beijing Red Cross Blood Center after the facility turned down his offer to donate blood.

October 2010 Beijing's largest gay and lesbian NGO forms an alliance with a Los Angeles gay center.

Photo: www.danlan.org Wu Youjian, 'Mother of Gays in China'

1999 Son Zheng Yuantao comes out to her, age 19.

2004 Son announces he is gay in interview with Guangzhou Television in Guangdong Province.

2005 Wu appears on a TV show as "mother of a gay son" for the first time.

2005 Wu begins giving speeches and receiving interviews to promote gay rights.

2008 Wu sets up hotline, blog and the Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) in Guangzhou.

2009 First and second PFLAG meetings held in Guangzhou.

2010 Third PFLAG meeting in Beijing

2010 Wu publishes Love is the Most Beautiful Rainbow