A gay man was committed to psychiatric care by his family, and forced to receive treatment for sexual preference disorder in Central China's Henan Province, after he came out of the closet to his family and filed for divorce with his wife.

Yu Quanhu (pseudonym), 34, was forced to go to the Second People's Hospital of Zhumadian by his family members on October 8, the date when he originally decided to divorce his wife, Yu's boyfriend surnamed Yang told the Global Times on Monday.

The gay couple began dating in January, and Yu came out of the closet with his family in April. He has been married to his wife for over 10 years and has raised a daughter and a son, Yang noted.

"He got married because he thought marriage could change him, but he did not love his wife. He sometimes told me that he would be working late just to avoid having sex with her," Yang said.

There are more than 16 million "homowives" in China, a term referring to wives of homosexuals. More than 90 percent of them have experienced domestic violence, but most of them do not want a divorce because of their children, reported China Women's News newspaper.

According to Ah Qiang, founder of PFLAG (Parents, Friends and Families of Lesbians and Gays) China, who accompanied Yang to the hospital, Yu's chief physician told them that Yu was hospitalized for emotional instability and sexual preference disorder.

"This [homosexuality being treated as psychosis] happens often, as many people don't know about homosexuality, especially in rural areas where people lack the means to learn about it," Ah Qiang told the Global Times, adding that the hospital has agreed to release Yu to his family on Monday after negotiation.

China removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in 2001.

Yu's family and the hospital were unavailable for comment as of press time.

Huang Xuetao, a Shenzhen-based lawyer, said that the actions of Yu's family are in violation of the nation's mental health law, which stipulates that a person cannot be forced to receive treatment unless there is evidence showing that this person is prone to harm himself or others.