May 19, 2010 - Dozens of members of a swingers’ club in China who met online and then gathered in homes and hotels for group sex parties are now on trial in the southeast city of Nanjing, accused of “group licentiousness.”
In 1997 a new law against group licentiousness was passed but no case was ever filed under this law until Ma Yaoha, a 53-year old college professor, and 21 others were accused of the crime and brought to trial.
The case turned heads as public interest soared last month due to curiosity in the swinger lifestyle.
The AP reported that this has now brought up a deeper debate about sexual freedom in a nation that’s trying to reshape its own modern morality.
Ma has his own explanation as to why swinging was enticing for him. He said he signed up voluntarily and that marriage is like water, you have to drink it. But swinging, he said in interviews with Chinese media, is like a cup of wine and you can drink it if you like. “If you don’t like it,” he said, “don’t drink it.”
Ma was the only person on trial who plead innocent. He argues his activities involved consenting adults meeting in nonpublic places, and questioned, “How can I disturb social order when what happens in my house is a private matter?”
His defiance seemed to “strike a chord”, the AP reported, in an era of relative sexual freedom where extramarital affairs and prostitution are common. He drew support from those who believe the Chinese government should stay out of the bedroom.
A verdict on Ma is expected Thursday from the Qinhuai District People’s Court in Nanjing, his attorney, Yao Yongan said. The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
According to the AP, Ma was unavailable for comment because he is currently sequestered at his home, where he is caring for his elderly mother, under security surveillance, Yao said.
In an earlier interview Ma declared his innocence and said, "I didn't do anything that hurt anybody else. I didn't force anyone else. Why is all the world focusing on me?"
Chat room for swingers
Ma had set up an Internet chat room for swingers called “Traveling Couples,” his personal sign-on was “bighornyfire.” He held some orgies in his small apartment that he shares with his Alzheimer’s-stricken mother.
When Ma’s two marriages failed he became interested in swinging in 2003. He initially joined other chat groups and then formed his own online group in 2007. Eventually 200 people joined and organized activities 35 times between 2007 and 2009. Ma participated in 18 sessions, his attorney said.
Members, 14 men and eight women who were white-collar workers, taxi drivers, and salesclerks decided on their own where to meet.
Sociologist Li Yinhe, China’s most prominent sex expert, says that as recently as a generation ago public hand-holding and kissing were unheard of in public. Now studies show 60 to 70 percent of Chinese have had sex before marriage, up from 15 percent in 1989.
"In the past, any sex activity outside marriage was unacceptable among people and could be punished," said Li, a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
According to the China Daily, in the early 1980s a woman was sentenced to death for participating in secret dance parties and the charge of “hooliganism,” was the catchall phrase used to criminalize everything from premarital sex to dancing with members of the other sex and listening to Western music.
China has come a long way!
Rising prosperity and the ease of government controls on personal freedoms has shifted the public’s view on sex in urban centers, while attitudes remain much more traditional in the countryside.
The AP reported that sex motels cater to college students who rent by the hour, pornography is widely available on the Internet, and radio and TV shows devoted to sex advice are highly popular.
Views on homosexuality have changed. Sodomy was decriminalized in 1997. A survey conducted just two years ago found an astounding 91 percent of people believe gays should not face discrimination in the workplace.
The Internet has given groups a place to gather. Happy Village, with its 380,000 registered members, is the largest group sex site.
Public backing
Li and other social commentators and academics came to Ma’s defense saying that though partner-swapping is against social norms, it isn’t violating the law as long as the parties don’t harm anyone else. Li wrote in a blog post, “One has a right to participate in them.”
An online survey was taken where 70 percent of 2,000 respondents believe Ma should be acquitted.
Some of Ma’s students came to his defense on a popular forum Tianya.
Sources:
AP
Vanity Fair
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