Gay daughter of Hong Kong billionaire who offered £80million to any man who married her tells him: ‘I will marry a man when you do’

Daddy-daughter day: Gigi Chao has written an open letter to her father Cecil Chao Sze-tsung, who offered HKD$1bn(£80million) in 'dowry' to any man who marries her, asking him to accept that she is lesbian 

The lesbian daughter of a Hong Kong billionaire who has offered HKD$1bn (£80million) in 'dowry' to the man who married her, has told him that she will marry a man when he does.

Gigi Chao, 34, previously laughed off her father's scheme to find a man for her, but has now gone public with her plea for him to understand that she is gay, and that if it is as easy as he thinks to change her sexual orientation, he should lead by example.

Earlier this month, Cecil Chao Sze-tsung, a 77-year-old property magnate, insisted that Gigi was 'still single', despite the fact that she married her long-term partner Sean Eav two years ago.

Scroll down to read the letter in full

Happy couple: Gigi, right, asks her father to 'not be terrified' of her partner Sean, left, whom she married in a civil ceremony two years ago, and to 'treat her like a dignified human being'

Following the publication of an open letter to her father, Ms Chao went even further saying she will enter a straight marriage, when her father enters a gay one.

'Since Dad thinks it's so easy for me to switch from gay to straight, I should just leave it for him to demonstrate. I think I'll marry a man when he marries a man,' the told The Times.

 

In the letter published by South China Morning Post, Ms Chao reaches out to her father, asking for him to come to terms with the fact that she is a lesbian.

In the letter, which starts 'Dear Daddy', Ms Chao explains that although her love for him has not changed, the time has come for her father to accept her sexual orientation and her partner, Sean Eav, whom she has been with for nine years.

'I must have misled you to hope there were other options for me,' she writes.

Definitely not single: Gigi Chao, right, and her partner Sean Eav, have been together for nine years and married in Paris in 2012

In denial: Hong Kong billionaire Mr Chao, who claims to have slept with 10,000 women, still wants his daughter to marry a man - although he won't force her

'I know it’s difficult for you to understand how I could feel romantically attracted to a woman; I suppose I can’t really explain it either. It just happens, peacefully and gently, and after so many years, we still love each other very much.
'Now, I’m not asking you to be best of friends; however, it would mean the world to me if you could just not be so terrified of her [partner Sean Eav], and treat her like a normal, dignified human being.
I understand it is difficult for you to understand, let alone accept this truth.'
'I’ve spent a lot of time figuring out who I am, what is important in my life, who I love and how best to live life, as an expression of all these questions.
'I am proud of my life, and I would not choose to live it any other way (except also figuring out how to be gentler on the planet).
'I’m sorry to mislead you to think I was only in a lesbian relationship because there was a shortage of good, suitable men in Hong Kong.
'There are plenty of good men, they are just not for me.'

Deal: Ms Chao offered to comply with the terms, as long as the man in question donated a large part of the 'reward' to her charity, and did not mind that she already has a wife

VIDEO: Gigi reads some of her marriage proposals... yes, she's still close with her father... 

Marriage proposals flood in for Chinese lesbian

Ms Chao married her long-term partner Sean in a church ceremony in Paris in early 2012, but it was not until news of their union was printed in the Hong Kong tabloids that her father promised the million HKD fortune to any potential male suitor able to walk Gigi down the aisle.

Ms Chao had already told her father about her wedding, and said he was ‘surprised and unpleasantly shocked,’ but urged her not to make it public.

When the plea for a man for Gigi spread over the world, the offers came pouring in.

‘War veterans from the US, someone from Ethiopia, from Istanbul, South America, Portugal, really just from all over the world,’ Ms Chao said.

'One American suitor wrote: "I’m interested in the offer. I am a male person, who also happens to be gay".'

Ms Chao, an executive director at her father’s property development company, part-time pilot, and founder of anti-poverty charity Faith in Love Foundation, has maintained throughout her father's persistent quest that she knows he is only doing it out of love and concern.

'I understand that he loves me, it’s just he’s from another time and it’s difficult for him to understand the plight of the LGBT.

'At the office it’s business as usual. At family gatherings we hug and dance. And we just agree to disagree on what marriage is and family is.'

GIGI CHAO'S LETTER TO HER FATHER

Dear Daddy,

I thought the timing was right for us to have a candid conversation.

You are one of the most mentally astute, energetic yet well mannered and hard-working people this humble earth has ever known.

Your confidence, quick wit, and charisma brightens any room you enter.

I love you very much, and I think I can speak for my brothers also, that we have the utmost respect for you as a father and role model in business.

I am sorry that people have been saying insensitive things about you lately. The truth is, they don’t understand that I will always forgive you for thinking the way you do, because I know you think you are acting in my best interests. And we both don’t care if anybody else understands.

As your daughter, I would want nothing more than to make you happy. But in terms of relationships, your expectations of me and the reality of who I am, are not coherent.

I am responsible for some of this misplaced expectation, because I must have misled you to hope there were other options for me. You know I’ve had male lovers in the past, and I’ve had happy, albeit short-lived, relationships. I found myself temporarily happy, buoyed by the freshness, the attention, the interest, of someone physically stronger than myself.

But it was always short-lived, as I quickly lost patience, and felt an indescribable discomfort in their presence. It usually made me frustrated, and I would yearn for my freedom again. I’ve broken a few hearts, hearts of good, honest and loving men, and I’m sorry that it had to be so.

But with Sean, a woman, somehow it was different. I am comfortable and satisfied with my life and completely at ease with her. I know it’s difficult for you to understand how I could feel romantically attracted to a woman; I suppose I can’t really explain it either. It just happens, peacefully and gently, and after so many years, we still love each other very much.

My regret is that you have no idea how happy I am with my life, and there are aspects of my life that you don’t share. I suppose we don’t need each other’s approval for our romantic relationships, and I am sure your relationships are really fantastic too.

However, I do love my partner Sean, who does a good job of looking after me, ensuring I am fed, bathed and warm enough every day, and generally cheering me up to be a happy, jolly girl. She is a large part of my life, and I am a better person because of her.

Now, I’m not asking you to be best of friends; however, it would mean the world to me if you could just not be so terrified of her, and treat her like a normal, dignified human being.
I understand it is difficult for you to understand, let alone accept this truth.

I’ve spent a lot of time figuring out who I am, what is important in my life, who I love and how best to live life, as an expression of all these questions. I am proud of my life, and I would not choose to live it any other way (except also figuring out how to be gentler on the planet).

I’m sorry to mislead you to think I was only in a lesbian relationship because there was a shortage of good, suitable men in Hong Kong.

There are plenty of good men, they are just not for me.

Wishing you happiness.

Patiently yours,

Your daughter, Gigi.