55 year old Ma Yaochun (马尧春) will be remembered as the first person in the last two decades to be prosecuted for the “crime of practicing and organizing orgies” under pertinent Chinese laws. If convicted he faces up to 5 years in jail. Doctor Ma, a former associate professor at a university in Nanjing, is currently awaiting trial and prosecution by the District Attorney’s office of Qinhuai District in Nanjing.

Ma has been placed under house arrest last September and now spends his time smoking Lushan cigarettes and browsing for news on the internet. He seems tired and agitated, but Ma proclaims innocence because he sees nothing wrong with wife-swapping and swinging parties as they're just a choice of lifestyle, albeit a bit 'abnormal' for some.

"There was no coercion and no organization"
On March 3rd, while the annual sessions of the two major government assemblies were being held in Beijing, famous sociologist Li Yinhe posted a blog article contending the “crime of practicing and organizing orgies” is seriously outdated and should be done away with altogether. “In the twenty or so years, there hasn't been one case where a person was indicted for this supposed crime; it is seriously out-of-use.”

Only a short week after, on March 10th, Ma Yaochun was indicted for this 'outdated' crime. Ma admitted that he had only learned of the crime and the possible consequences for his actions, when the local police had brought him in for interrogation on August 21st, 2009. But Ma insisted on his innocence and the fact that he was just sharing with like-minded people that had wanted this lifestyle for themselves. He explained that there was never any coercion on his part or any of the others; there were never any attempts to organize and elicit people to join and participate.

Sociologists and scholars like Li Yinhe and Fang Gang agree with Ma, both published blog posts about the matter, calling for, “respect of personal rights to consensual sexual behavior,” and that ,“his actions did not hurt anyone and swinging is in fact a sexual lifestyle that is embraced by a minority of our citizens”.

How Ma Yaochun came to participate in swinging parties
Ma said that he had just gotten out of a terrible relationship with his second wife and, wanting to meet new people online, he began to frequent online dating sites and networking groups. By chance, he stumbled upon a group of like-minded people who enjoyed having swinging parties and swapping partners. Ma became intrigued and wanted to join to learn more about this peculiar lifestyle, but because group administrators require that all members must upload pictures and videos of themselves and their partners, Ma wasn't allowed access because he was single. “These are not porn sites,” Ma explained, “they even block out the more explicit images in pictures and videos depicting sex between partners. Those married couples that participate in swapping partners are connected in a special way because they must both consent to it.”

"The swinging lifestyle helps us deviate in a way that allows us to survive"
Ma explained that he had met quite a number of depressed people in his swinging encounters. “You see, my former partner who had the online alias of “fire phoenix” had wanted to kill herself by lying on the train tracks waiting to die, but she had survived because she came across a deviant partner who introduced her to swinging,” Ma insisted. “My other partner, surnamed Guo, wasn't so lucky because she was so obsessed with me. She eventually killed herself over this obsession.” Ma further said that he had come from a long family line with a history of psychosis and the only reason he hadn't become psychotic was because the swinging lifestyle had helped him deviate in a way that allowed him to break free without getting himself trapped his way of thinking.

Sociologists Li Yinhe and Fang Gang call for tolerance of sexual deviancy
Both explained that Professor Ma's sexual behavior may be deviant from the “normal” ways of the majority, but his actions had involved consenting adults who wanted the swinging lifestyle for themselves. Thus, it is in no way a crime and society should be more tolerant of these people and their sexual preference because it is their personal right and choice.

Source: ifeng.com

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