How LGBTQ life in China has gotten tougher under Xi? Since Xi Jinping took office in 2012, life has gotten harder in China, making it harder to be gay.
China’s muscular posture, according to Di Valerio Fabbri’s article in Geopolitica.info, emerged after Xi set the stage for a more assertive, self-reliant China, which is bolstered by a burgeoning population and traditional values.
One result has been a subtle but ongoing narrowing of gay spaces, both real and imagined.
Since he took office, Xi Jinping has tightened the breathing space for civil society, which includes organizations that support the LGBTQ community.
Legislation has been passed to make it difficult for unauthorized groups to survive, such as by denying them access to banking services, public gathering places, or media coverage.
Because so many Western embassies in Beijing have promoted LGBT rights, some Chinese people also think that being gay, bisexual, or trans is a foreign concept.
Also read: Where has China’s Foreign Minister disappeared?
Internet platforms willing to intervene and carry out the dirty work of the government have led to a subtle but constant narrowing of gay spaces in a more assertive, self-reliant China, according to Fabbri.
“Will You Look at Me”, an award-winning documentary short film features
Huang Shuli and his mother in an anguished conversation regarding Shuli’s homosexuality.
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The words “Why did I give birth to a monster?” are spoken by Huang’s mother in exasperation, and they are juxtaposed with images of her engaging in routine activities like picking flowers, swimming in the wild, or taking care of her garden.
How LGBTQ life in China has gotten tougher under Xi
In China, where there are no sexual minorities’ rights, homosexuality has long been a taboo subject. Several LGBT student organizations’ social media accounts were deleted last year due to an unidentified violation.
For groups promoting greater inclusion, the environment is becoming more hostile. Shanghai Pride, the only significant LGBT event in China, has been postponed following police questioning of several of its organizers, according to Geopolitica.info.
Furthermore, LGBT organizations have come under fire for allegedly corrupting the youth and working for hostile foreign powers, with State media amplifying this rhetoric. The top media regulator outlawed depictions of “effeminate” and “sissy” men last year.
Even generic television programmes with subtly romantic male friendships were outlawed. Beijing’s Education Ministry has called for enhancing physical education to “cultivate masculinity” in order to stop the “feminization” of boys.
Peng Yanzi, a campaigner for LGBT equality in China, underwent hypnosis and electric shock therapy in 2014 at an unnamed clinic there in an effort to “cure” his homosexuality.
Additionally, same-sex couples are not permitted to get married or adopt kids.
In 2016, the Chinese censors ruled that homosexual themes should be avoided in both television and film.
Nine activists in Xian were arrested while trying to plan a convention for LGBT rights.
The police informed the organizers that gay people were not welcome in the city. When the American television programme “Friends” began streaming in China, the plot about Ross’ lesbian ex-wife was completely removed, according to Geopolitics. This was an absurd example of censorship.
The Communist Party has also pushed for couples to have more kids in an effort to counteract the effects of the previous one-child policy, which has led to a society that is rapidly getting older.
Although it’s never stated explicitly, advocating for LGBT equality and accepting unconventional family structures might be seen as undermining that goal.
