babepier.pages.dev

Chinese gay

Home / gay topics / Chinese gay

This first wave of LGBTQ+ activism received further attention with the outbreak of HIV/AIDS in China, with international NGOs coming forward to fund HIV/AIDS prevention work as well as NGOs that primarily focused on serving the Chinese gay community. 

These events led to the mushrooming of several grassroots LGBTQ+ organisations and NGOs fuelled by international support such as the Beijing Gay Lesbian and Allies Discussion (BGLAD) and the Beijing Gender Health Education Institute which played a significant role in empowerment, community-building and advocacy for (urban) queer Chinese.

These usages become widespread and integrated into the lexicon that almost all social media users could recognize and understand. Facebook and Twitter are blocked in China and Shanghai Pride had their website blocked last year.

‘We get a lot of great interviews but sometimes we have to be careful because we don’t want to excited once and then we get shutdown forever,’ says Wei.

‘I think being an activist in China is sometimes really difficult because you challenge yourself a lot.

Western categorisations like "LGBTQ+" may gain currency, but they risk homogenising local identities, erasing the nuanced intersections of ethnicity, class, gender and demography that define China's queer landscape.

chinese gay

Despite these strategies, it is clear that mainstream discussion regarding LGBTQ+ rights have disappeared, and individuals are forced to steer clear of politics and focus more on everyday sexual topics. Given that the Chinese state’s vision of a “harmonious society” aligns with the fields of poverty, health, and education and are overly cautious of “promoting” openly LGBTQ+ organisations, almost no NGOs dedicated to LGBTQ+ advocacy are formally registered with the local civil affairs bureaus in China.

Among these online platforms, Sina Weibo stands out as one of the largest social networking websites in China. (2023). In 2018, Tianyi, a famous Chinese writer specializing in creating danmei content, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the production and sale of pornographic materials regarding homosexuality.

Queer-targeted Chinese censorship and New Strategies

  • Human Rights Research Center
  • May 23, 2024
  • 11 min read

Author: Vivian Sun

May 23, 2024

Social Media and the Banning of Homosexual Content Under Chinese Censorship

Social media and online communities have long provided the main space for Chinese queers.

This format is typically associated with platforms like Twitter and Sina Weibo, where users can share short messages, thoughts, links, images, and videos with their followers in real-time.

  • Netizen: A term that combines "internet" and "citizen" and refers to a person who actively participates in online communities and discussions, particularly on social media platforms and other websites.

    In this stifling environment, they aim to function within a grey zone, wherein they are not legally protected but can still operate without interference from governmental authorities. For example, the institution of family is one of the biggest barriers towards queer rights discourse in China. Gender in Geopolitics Institute.

    Due to the conservative attitude of the government, soliciting funds and lobbying for policy changes have already become nearly impossible. Existing efforts from activists have molded today’s queer movement in China, with compromise, creation, disappointments, and developments.

    • Glossary

    • Aesthetics: A branch of philosophy that deals with the nature, appreciation, and critique of beauty, art, and taste.

    • Aging population: A demographic phenomenon characterized by an increasing proportion of elderly individuals within a society relative to younger age groups.

      This divide, epitomized by the tongzhi-lala dichotomy, underscores the need for a more inclusive approach (both in China and globally) that amplifies diverse intersections of gender, sexuality and even class within the LGBTQ+ spectrum in China. 

      State Response to LGBTQ+ Activism 

      While China has refrained from an explicit condemnation of homosexuality, traditional values and notions of social harmony often clash with LGBTQ+ rights.

      Western-centric approaches to advocacy may clash with local priorities and strategies, leading to friction and misalignment. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-016-9685-4

    • Yubo Kou, Yong Ming Kow, and Xinning Gui. (2017). https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/201904/1145991.shtml

    • James Palmer. The frequent use of the term “healthy” reflects the government's conservative attitude, despite homosexuality no longer being classified as a mental disorder for several decades.

      CRN’s mission is to build a better community for this group. (2023).