"EVERYONE WAS SCARED"Ma's journey to the apex of China's tech industry began in the early 2000s when he began publishing Danlan.org, a blog about his life as a gay man.There were few places in China at the time for gay men to socialise, Ma says, adding that "people would write on the walls of public toilets, saying meet here at this and that time"."Everyone was scared of being found out by others."Ma's blog gradually expanded into an influential online forum for LGBTQ people in China to share lifestyle articles, health advice and short stories."I thought I could build a website, to tell gay people like me ...
you don't need to feel inferior, you don't need to be suicidal," he told AFP.Increasing local media coverage of the website outed Ma.