China tycoon dad offers $65M dowry to man who can wed gay daughter
(CBS News) Hong Kong is a special place in China, more tolerant and western-looking in its attitudes - up to a point, apparently.
Cecil Chao is a property billionaire with a taste for garish art and younger women. What he doesn't have is a taste for is his daughter's sexual orientation.
Gigi Chao has formalized her relationship with her partner in a church ceremony in France and that does not please Cecil Chao. He's tried to fix his embarrassment the way he fixes most things - with money. He's offered a $65 million marriage bounty to any man who can convince Gigi of the error of her ways. The tweets have flooded in and prove the old Chinese proverb - be careful what you ask for.
One of the marriage proposals reads, "I am interested in your offer to wed your daughter who also happens to be gay. I am a male person who also happens to be gay."
Another says, "Let's just get married and split the money 50-50."
Another adds, "Gigi Chao, you are now the most sexiest woman alive."
Gigi Chao says her father's interference is just a generational thing. "It's obvious that he doesn't accept his daughter being gay, first of all, but he doesn't accept that as a social statement. He can accept it, sort of, as an in-the-closet lifestyle choice, but not as a social statement."
What this does to the gay rights movement in Hong Kong is unclear, but it's certainly started a conversation.
Watch Mark Phillips' full report in the video above.
