In recent years, China’s LGBTQ+ community has been swept up in the Chinese Communist party’s broader crackdown on civil society and freedom of expression. In May 2023, a well known LGBTQ+ advocacy group in Beijing announced it was closing due to “unavoidable” circumstances. Last February, two university students filed a lawsuit against the education ministry after they were punished for distributing rainbow flags on campus.
Yeah Naomi Wu was also arrested and “silcenced” last year (she’s no longer allowed to publish anything even stuff not critical of the CCP). https://skepchick.org/2023/08/maker-naomi-wu-is-silenced-by-chinese-authorities-and-why-i-blame-elon-musk/
She is also feminist and lesbian and has an Uyghur girlfriend, which was blatantly published by Vice after promises not to do so, which suddenly put her on the radar 😭 It’s a shame because I have big respect for her and her content.
I don’t really understand why China is so against LGBTQ+, I don’t think they have any religious basis for this. But I assume it has a lot to do with their demography crisis (rapidly falling birth numbers). Even though it seems counterproductive to me, them being against LGBTQ+ does not really make it disappear, I think facilitating IVF for happy LGBT couples to raise loved children would be more productive. But anyway…
I don’t think they have any religious basis for this.
The same applies to Russia. You can say something similar about ultra conservative Catholics, since the Pope has called for tolerance. Yet, they would rather denounce the Pope than tolerate LGBTQ+.
The key idea is that bigotry is not driven by religious affiliation, but rather by authoritarian attitudes. That’s what’s common between China, Russia and the ultra conservatives in the US. Tolerance of LGBTQ indicates freedom and liberalism in some sense. And both are challenges to the stakeholders of authoritarianism. They want a world where people live within the framework they dictate - and thus the bigotry.
The same applies to Russia.
Not really. Russia has a strong orthodox influence. They suppressed it during the soviet times but it is back in full force.
You can say something similar about ultra conservative Catholics, since the Pope has called for tolerance. Yet, they would rather denounce the Pope than tolerate LGBTQ+.
That’s a small splinter group though. Most catholics are pretty open. Even Ireland allowed gay marriage now by popular vote.
The key idea is that bigotry is not driven by religious affiliation, but rather by authoritarian attitudes. That’s what’s common between China, Russia and the ultra conservatives in the US. Tolerance of LGBTQ indicates freedom and liberalism in some sense. And both are challenges to the stakeholders of authoritarianism. They want a world where people live within the framework they dictate - and thus the bigotry.
Aha that does make sense. The LGBTQ movement is indeed very progressive and liberal. I do think there is often a religous component as well (though that seems to be missing in China) but this sounds like a good explanation.
Nooooo! Not Naomi!
I don’t really follow her content, but I love her existence and all her efforts towards education and awareness on many topics.
I hope she’s able to find freedom again somehow.
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Well she is in freedom, she was released. She’s just not free to publish. So she is well but not able to do what she loved.
I wouldn’t call it freedom. If she’s treated like other “security threats” within China, then she does not have freedom to travel. She’s likely limited to her city at most, perhaps even just a small area within and has to regularly report to local police. Think of it like probation for people convicted of actual crimes in the West, except without court order, for an unlimited amount of time and with the constant threat of being tortured/disappeared looming over her head. If Xi ever feels like tightening the thumb screws on the Chinese people even further, she’d probably feel the effects before many others. All of this comes with social consequences, as many friends and business partners will be scared away.
So… Just like probation?
The Naomi situation is ridiculous. Such a nice person with amazing stories to tell and things to do being swept under the rug like it’s nothing
Yes and she was not overly critical at all. Instead she focused mainly on her tech.
I really miss her great content 😢 And her personality.
I was curious about this as I read a few BL Manhua. It was pretty well accepted since at least the Han dynasty, and has been argued that westernisation during the Qing dynasty is what introduced the opposition towards it. I mainly just read about it on this Wikipedia page so I could also be completely wrong ^ - ^ `
Being in the infosec space and seeing her blow up back in 2017-2019, I’m shocked it took the CCP this long to come down on her. She always kept any political criticism at arm’s length, but her not being the Beijing-approved image of femininity was always going to make her a target in Xi’s China.
Just two more pieces for those interested.
China’s Pioneering Gay Rights Group Halts Operations Under ‘Force Majeure’ (May 2023)
The 15-year-old Beijing LGBT Center, one of the pioneers of the “different sexual orientation movement” in China, announced this week that it had terminated its operations without explanation.
Analysts said the closure of the well-known rights center was seen as inevitable and a reflection of the increasingly repressive political environment in China under Xi Jinping.
[…] In 2019, Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan passed the Special Act on Same-Sex Marriage, becoming the first country in Asia to allow same-sex marriage, but the regulations stipulated that married same-sex couples could adopt only children biologically related to one of the partners […] Taiwan is now leading Asia in same-sex marriage legislation.
The Chinese government claims LGBTQ+ people are protected from discrimination. Our interviews with 26 activists tell another story (October 2023)
The evidence suggests LGBTQ+ activists in China have had a particularly tough time since President Xi Jinping took office in 2013. The effects of targeting have spiralled in the past few years, reflected in the abrupt closure of the Shanghai Pride in 2020, and the 2021 shutdown of LGBT Rights Advocacy China – an organisation that held law-based campaigns.
Ironically this may serve to further them from their goals regarding Taiwan. The further they become politically and socially, the more difficult assimilation becomes. I think in 25 years it won’t be possible anymore. By then we are likely to see not an event like Hong Kong, but outright war before such a thing occurs. Geographically, any such imposition would appear as an invasion. That’s why we see China doing their best to meddle with their elections. Assuming TSMC maintains its relevance, and they gain recognition from some western powers. Not that far off if you can believe it.
So with Intel expanding processor manufacturing operations in the US (Outside Columbus Ohio, for example) to avoid the TSMC supply chain issues faced over the last few years, couldn’t that actually hurt Taiwan, as the USA will just refuse to be involved if their national interests aren’t in jeopardy?
I know that TSMC supplies globally, but what if USA just suddenly decided that the defensive “juice” just wasn’t worth the proverbial squeeze?
TLDR: US decides “Fuck it, we can produce our own processors now, you’re on your own”. Is that a realistic possibility?
Absolutely, however playing catchup in the semiconductor space is far easier said than done. Even intel gave up and started using TSMC to lay their newer nodes. So long as TSMC maintains its R&D lead they have that trump card.
I think you’re onto something there though. There has been a push in the US to onshore chip manufacturing and the situation with Taiwan is a huge motivator.
Oh China, the “pro LGBTQ+” instance hexbear favourite dictatorship.
Not that I am OK with how China is dealing with these things, but this is not exactly an LGBTQ+ issue. As per the article, the reasons for the arrests are kidnapping, not any law against being gay. In fact, China has essentially civil unions for gay people who want to be in a recognized relationship.
Ironically, in this case, it’s not a government problem but a societal one. The older generation is very conservative. They set the tone for a lot of censorship. So while your free to be gay or whatever, you can’t talk about it or make media about it. This is to not offend the older generation.
The older generation can inflict immense damage on their children as the article points out. If you disobey your elders like your parents, the police will tend to favor the elders as we see in this article.
As a cultural issue, this has kind of been the case since Confucius times. China is kind of famous for over controlling and overbearing parents. And in this case, the government backs them even if the official policy is to let them be. For example in 2017 China ruled that gay conversion camps illegal. Yet the problem still persists in 2019.
Of course as per usual, when the government doesn’t know what to do, it tries to censor everything and hopes it goes away on its own.
Like I said, not OK with it, but we should all be aware what it is and be aware of biased reporting from the news.
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The failed rescue attempt is one of more than 10 similar cases Mei knows of where advocates have been arrested and questioned by police since she joined an informal network providing support to the LGBTQ+ community some years ago.
In recent years, China’s LGBTQ+ community has been swept up in the Chinese Communist party’s broader crackdown on civil society and freedom of expression.
In 2021, the founder of another group, LGBT Rights Advocacy China, was detained and released on condition that he close the organisation, which shuttered shortly after.
“In China, there is systematic persecution,” says Fangqing*, 23, a gender-fluid advocate who, before going into exile overseas, was pressed by police to admit to selling harmful drugs after attempting to help a victim of domestic violence.
While China has a law against domestic violence, it fails to adequately protect victims, especially LGBTQ+ people, say advocates, with crimes often dismissed as family affairs.
Those who help victims escape violence can be arrested and made to confess to charges such as illegally selling drugs, kidnapping or even “group licentiousness”, says Fangqing.
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