Sadly, it often appears to be.

I do remember reading an article in the New York Times a year ago or so (could be four weeks or five years) on the Chinese government cracking down on homosexual nightclubs. I can't find it, but when searching for it I found this little tidbit from Kristof.

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/29/world/china-using-electrodes-to-cure-homosexuals.html

I do wish I could find that article, just to know if I'm remembering it correctly. I'd also find it amusing to talk about the backwardness of China, considering a large US State had an anti-sodomy (read: anti-homosexuality) law on its books as recently as ~8 years ago (Lawrence v Texas) and which was upheld by the supreme court back in the 80's.