It might be 2013, but China's policy on homosexuality is still a big issue.  And this is despite the fact that the country has an estimated gay population of 30-40 million, legalized homosexuality in 1997, and finally removed "being gay" from the list of mental diseases in 2001.

Since the gay community there isn't going to wait for the government to come around, they decided to take matters into their own hands by launch a Chinese gay dating app called 'Blued.'

The team behind the app is led by Geng Le, a prominent gay rights and HIV/AIDS prevention advocate. This policeman also ran a blog before setting up 'DanLan', an online community for gay people in China to deal with the isolation many of his readers felt.

The function of the app is similiar to other geolocating dating apps like Grindr. It also allows users to see and chat with other nearby users. The app also comes with other unique functions including multiple ways of connecting users, news including local events and information on HIV/AIDS and on the progress of gay rights in China. The app currently boasts two million users and counting, and the team is now working on a similar app for China's lesbian population.

[China Daily Asia]