Convenience marriage app helps LGBT people in China appease parents and employers

China’s iHomo app provides the country’s LGBT community with relationship matches with others needing a xinghun (shaped) marriage to appease families.

With pressure from families to marry and have children, China’s LGBT community now has a new method of dealing with the burden of expectation. New app iHomo is a social network that matches individuals with others also needing a marriage of convenience. Created by someone who had to find an appropriate match for her own xinghun (marriage of convenience), iHomo is available on both iOS and Android and is currently free.

In order to access the network, users are sent an invitation code. The app is currently focused on increasing membership in order to make it easier to find appropriate xinghun matches. The founders plan to continue to expand the app into a fully developed range of online and offline services for China’s LGBT community, including advice and support on pregnancy, law, pension and employment.

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