The LGBTQ Community in the Peoples’s Republic of China (PRC) is facing turbulent situations and is also facing the brunt and constant flareup from the state, censorship, surveillance and intimidation even from its police and law-enforcement agencies.
During the early 2000s, the situation for the LGBTQ community improved significantly, such as the flourishing and establishment of gay clubs, the community groups sprang into action and offered social services.
Legal Status of Homosexuality in China-
In 1997, Homosexuality was decriminalised in China. There are no explicit protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Same-sex people are not allowed to marry or adopt children. The Chinese advocates initially had success in courts, saying that the rights to dignity and equality in the constitution apply to LGBTQ people.
A classic example of this achievement was noted in the year 2020 when a court in Beijing ruled that the protection of a transwoman against workplace discrimination should be within the meaning of the law. The Chinese Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality per se from its list of mental illnesses in 2001, labelling it not necessarily abnormal.
Golden Era of the LGBTQ community-
After the decriminalisation of homosexuality took place in 1997, the golden era for the LGBTQ witnessed a beginning of a golden era. In 2001, the PRC removed homosexuality from the per se of mental disorders. Proposals for same-sex marriage were submitted. In 2004, the Destination Gay Club was opened in Beijing, which turned out to be the biggest gay nightclub, and it also offered services such as HIV testing.
All these events clearly indicate that the LGBTQ community was undergoing a golden era. In 2009, the Shanghai Pride Week was given a green signal.
Repressive Measures taken by the PRC
With the ascendance of the draconian and authoritarian Xi Jinping to the throne of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2013, the conditions for the LGBTQ community began to dwindle and turn bitter year after year.
In 2016, the on-screen portrayals of homosexuality were banned. Four years later, the Annual Shanghai Pride Week events were cancelled. Major cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou have seen progressive growth regarding the anti-favourable conditions of the LGBTQ section of Chinese society.
In 2017, nine activists were jailed and briefly detained for the organisation of the gay rights conference in Xian. The police told one reporter that the city did not welcome ‘gay people’. In order to warn media companies and personnel off employing people who did not conform to gender norms, the people used to use the word “Niangpao,” which translates into “sissy men”
The school gym classes were told to add “cultural masculinity” to their curriculum. Posters of soccer players Li Ying were deleted. Following this was the closure of LGBTQ accounts on social media. In video games, gay and effeminate characters were removed.
According to a report from Holly Snape, a Chinese scholar at the University of Glasgow, said that the LGBTQ community, under a policy introduced in 2021, was to cut them from public meetings, banking services and banning them media coverage.
Few local advocacy groups dare to attend foreign-sponsored events on LGBTQ themes, at least officially. The Communist Party of China (CPC) also has been pushing for families to have more children, which is an effort to reverse the effects of the old one-child policy, which has led to a greying society.
Reasons for the repression
One of the top priorities of Xi Jinping is to make China a great power on the world stage. Being gay, bisexual and transgender in China is seen as an imported concept. It is a misconception that comes from the fact that many Western Embassies in Beijing have highlighted gay rights. The PRC follows policies that to build a more assertive, bold, self-reliant and robust population.
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