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A brief history of queer China

Having just celebrated Lunar New Year earlier this month, it’s a good opportunity to look at the history of queer people throughout China. Interestingly, history suggests that China’s past was actually more open than the West on LGBTQ+ rights. 



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Homosexuality in Chinese traditional philosophy and religion

Despite common misconceptions, China has always been moderately open towards LGBTQ+ people. There is no real evidence of homosexual interdiction in Taoism, and homosexuality is generally not considered a crime or immoral. Confucianism focuses on social behaviors and has little interest for sexual practices; Buddhism’s recommendations vary at times as well as each of the Dalai Lamas, and same-sex relations are not considered a sin as in the other monotheist religions. However, Asian philosophies emphasize family continuation, which is why it is extremely important for a son to have children and give posterity to his father’s name. 

 

LGBTQ+ in China’s ancient history

There is plenty of evidence of homosexuality having existed throughout the history of the Middle Kingdom. Indeed, homosexuality was common practice within many dynasties until Western culture came to influence Chinese thinking.

 

The language used to describe homosexuality was much more poetic than the expressions borrowed from the western psychiatric language; it referred to stories that happened between emperors and their favorites in The Passion of the Cut Sleeve (Dynasty Han, emperor Ai ti) and The Bitten Peach (Dynasty Zhou). The Passion of The Cut Sleeve refers to a story of the emperor Ai Ti from the Han dynasty, when Ai Ti was resting in his male lover's arms he wished not to wake him up, so he cut his own sleeve to liberate his arm from beneath his beloved 'favorite'.

 


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During the Qing dynasty poets produced texts about homosexuality, (Dream on the red Chamber /红楼梦, cao xueqin, 18th C) – Kangyouwei/康有为(1858-1927), which promoted women’s emancipation and suggested a homosexual marriage contract. There was, however, some forms of repression under the Yuan dynasty and the 14th century Ming dynasty, when male prostitution was forbidden. 

 

Mao’s era

Homosexuality was also forbidden during Mao's era, and was outlawed as part of the Hooligan law in the criminal code. The reference to hooliganism comes from Marx and Engels who refers to homosexual men as hooligans (Mann, S, 2011). Mao's key philosophy on homosexuality rested on denying the existence of homosexuality, and it was classified as a “bad element” along with landlords, rich peasants, counterrevolutionary etc. During this era, until the late 1990’s, China sent homosexuals to psychiatric hospitals to be cured using barbarian methods like electroshock therapy. Gay people now refer to themselves as “comrade” (Tongzhi) as a way to reclaim their treatment under Mao’s rule. Then under Deng Xiaoping amid China’s great opening to the liberal market, homosexuality was associated with negatives notions: such as drugs, alcohol and robbery. 



New values and positivity toward homosexuality in China

In the modern era of China's positive thoughts toward homosexuality two dates are important: 1997 when homosexuality was decriminalized and sodomy was removed from China's criminal code; and 2001 when homosexuality was withdrawn from the psychiatric illness list.

 

Modern China is slowly becoming a more tolerant of homosexuality. A great example of China's changing attitudes towards LGBTQ+ brights was how the media reacted to famous actress and member of a Christian radical sect, Lu Liping, after describing homosexuals as “shameful” and “sinners”. The press from all over China defended homosexual rights and even China's CCTV called for peace and respect towards the LGBTQ+ community.

 

In recent years, the Chinese government has also started to take AIDS and LGBTQ-related health matters more seriously to preserve the health of gay men. Back in 2008, Beijing opened a non-profit LGBT Center, to enable its queer communities to enjoy an equal, autonomous and dignified life in China. 



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Further evidence of tolerance towards homosexuality in China

A few Prides have been allowed in China to date. Shanghai, for example, holds a festival called ShanghaiPRIDE in late May/early June. The city plays host to a number of film events, art installations, parties and community events, as well as a Pride Run and Rainbow Bike Parade. During other times of the year, the LGBTQ+ scene in cities like Shanghai and Beijing can be found despite being scattered and smallBeijing has a small but thriving queer community that offers inclusive spaces like Q-Space for the local LGBTQ+ people.


More LGBTQ+ associations have also begun to flourish in China including LGBTQ+ parents’ associations. In 2010, China welcomed the Smile4gay photograph campaign with heterosexual and even the Buddhist Monks supporting homosexuals. Furthermore, there is growing literature and art on homosexuality topic. Finally, Beijing's government has recognized the marital status or civil partnership of all foreigners, including same-sex marriages. Yet, despite China decriminalizing homosexuality in 1997 and removing it from an official list of psychiatric disorders in 2001, discrimination persists in employment, health care and other areas, and many remain reluctant to come out to their families.


LGBTQ+ challenges in contemporary China

Even though things are slowly improving for the LGBTQ+ community in China, traditional family and social pressures are still very present. The one child policy makes harder for gay people to avoid marriage and have children. There are many Internet ads from unmarried LGBTQ+ people advertising for partners prepared to engage in a fake marriage to please their parents. Sexologist Lin Yinhe estimates than between 70% and 80% of Chinese gay people get married and most of them have extramarital sexual relations. Additionally an estimated 16 million straight women are married with homosexual men in China. Unsurprisingly, homosexuality is harder to accept in China's rural areas which is no different to other countries around the world.  

 

It's also much harder for LGBTQ+ women to be open and out in Chinese society because women’s rights in the country generally are still far behind and not as developed as other nations. The lack of proactive engagement towards the acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community from the Chinese government makes life for LGBTQ+ people in China difficult. According to Yanzi Peng, Director of LGBT Rights Advocacy China, based in Guangzhou: “The best word to describe the attitude of the Chinese government towards LGBTQ+ rights is to ‘ignore’. It’s hard to gauge their exact attitude. They don’t outright object to the LGBTQ+ community because that would really go against international attitudes on this issue.” 

 

Despite the absence of a clear position from the government, Chinese mentalities are opening up. For example, a poll on sina.com in 2013, found that 52% of Chinese people were in favor of same-sex marriage. In recent years, China's LGBTQ+ community has been addressing its LGBTQ+ rights more forcefully, such as red trucks bearing slogans against gay conversion therapy driving through Shanghai in 2019.

 

So there are signs that change is coming to China, albeit slowly. When a Beijing tech firm bought the dating app Grindr in 2018, many onlookers saw this as a sign of real openness from China towards the LGBTQ+ community. However, it was short-lived as Kunlun Tech sold the company in 2020 after the US Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) reportedly informed the firm that its ownership of Grindr posed a national security risk.


In short, despite the minor progress made in recent years, China still has a long way to go to recognize LGBTQ+ people as equals.

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