Beijing, January 16,  2010:  Police cancelled what would have been China’s first gay pageant just an hour before it was to start on Friday, the event’s organizer said.

The Mr Gay China pageant was set to take place in an upscale nightclub in Beijing, but police arrived and said it could not take place, Ben Zhang said. “They said the content, meaning homosexuality, there nothing wrong with that, but you did not do things according to procedures,” Zhang said.

He said police told him he needed to apply for approval for events that included performances. Zhang had said he hoped it would mark another step toward greater awareness of homosexuals in China where gays are discriminated against.