Yinhe Li is currently a Professor at the Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Prior to this she has been affiliated with the Institute of Sociology, Peking University. She received her Bachelors degree in History from Shanxi University in 1977 and her PhD in Sociology from the University of Pittsburgh in 1988. SHe is the author of many books, including, Sexuality and Marriage in the West and the East, On Gender  and Foucault and Sexuality. Li has been active in calling for greater tolerance for nonconventional sexual activities in China. She thinks the country is undergoing a de facto sexual revolution, and encourages people to re-examine traditional attitudes towards sexual promiscuity and homosexuality. She also believes that monogamy is a personal decision made between a couple, and should not be enforced by law or social pressure. As a member of the national committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Li had submitted proposals to legalize same-sex marriages in 2003, 2005 and 2006. None have succeeded so far. She was a keynote speaker at the 2006 International Conference on LGBT Human Rights in Montreal. Li also publicly speaks about other issues of social justice, such as the growing urban-rural divide in China.