The first Mr Gay China contest, set to take place last Friday in Beijing, was closed down by authorities an hour before it was to start. With recent news of a gay wedding in China, and the opening of a government funded gay bar in the tourist town of Dali in southwestern Yunnan province, things were looking up for the Chinese gay community.

The pageant had received widespread press both internationally and even in China's government controlled media, and was being regarded as a sign of China's growing tolerance of homosexuality. In today's Straight from the Street, we asked people if it was right to stop the pageant going ahead. Here’s what people had to say.