Chinese student sues government over homosexuality

A college student in China's Guangdong province has sued the education ministry in order to eliminate textbooks describing homosexuality as a "disorder", the media reported on Thursday.

The female student filed the lawsuit under the alias Qiu Bai to prevent exposure of personal information to the Chinese public who are largely conservative and sensitive towards homosexuality, Xinhua news agency reported.

Qiu's frustrations began when seeking out answers on her doubts about her sexual orientation at the library. Almost every book she consulted categorised homosexuality as a mental disorder, with some even suggesting electroshock therapy to cure the "disease".

On May 14, Qiu applied to the ministry asking them to clarify what regulations were in place to supervise such content. Her request received no response in the required limit of 15 days. She then responded with a lawsuit.

Last year, a gay rights activist sued a counselling centre along with Baidu, China's most popular search engine, in the nation's first ever 'gay conversion' suit. He won his case.