Chinese Billionaire Offers $65 Million Dowry For Lesbian Daughter, Gigi Chao

If you’re not familiar with Gigi Chao, you may want to be: Gigi’s father, Chinese property magnate Cecil Chao Sze-tsung of Cheuk Nang Holdings, is offering $65 million to any man that will wed his daughter. The caveat? Gigi is gay and presumably married to seven-year partner Sean Yeung, alias Sean Eav. “He has an interesting interpretation of me,” said Gigi, 33, of her father. “I’m not afraid to admit anything. But I do want to respect my parents. Sometimes people just refuse to accept what they are told. Let time be the witness.”

Although Gigi and Eav reportedly wed in France last April, same-sex marriages are not legally recognized in Hong Kong — and her father, one of the wealthiest men in the city and a “playboy tycoon” with a reputation for sleeping around (a lot), insists that Gigi, whom he believes to be single, simply hasn’t met the right man yet. “I don’t mind whether he is rich or poor,” said Chao of his ideal son-in-law. “The important thing is that he is generous and kind-hearted.”

Surprisingly, Gigi, who describes herself on Facebook as a “Helicopter pilot. Social entrepreneur. Creator of expressions in color and emotion,” is taking her father’s words with a grain of salt. “At first I was entertained by it,” Gigi said. “And then that entertainment turned into the realization and conviction that I am a really lucky girl to have such a loving daddy, because it’s really sweet of him to do something like this as an expression of his fatherly love.” Huh?

“It’s not that he can’t accept me,” Gigi continued. “It’s that he can’t accept how society would view me and the status that it would incur. Marriage is still a form of social status. I do understand him. I understand why he’s doing this.” Gigi’s mother, on the other hand, seems even less understanding of her sexuality. According to Gigi’s own account, her mother “banged her head against the wall, literally” when Gigi came out of the closet at 16.

But don’t go getting your hopes up. Even if you don’t believe Gigi is homosexual and already married, plenty of suitors have already queued up for the billionaire’s daughter’s hand. “People are contacting me on Facebook, by email, on Twitter. It’s ridiculous. I can’t sort out the serious proposals from the half-hearted ones. I can’t make head or tail of it,” Gigi told The Daily Telegraph. “Some of them had obviously done their research, you know, gone on my Facebook and looked at my background. Some of them are quite poetic,” Gigi said. For now, however, Gigi’s heart is set on Eav: “I’m very happy when I’m with her.”