One of Xi’s primary aims has been to transform China into a global power. Policies aimed at creating a more assertive, self-reliant nation with a strong, robust people have been implemented to that end. The rise in hostilities with the United States has fuelled a more nationalistic tone. Some in China believe that being homosexual, bisexual, or trans is a foreign concept, based on the fact that numerous Western embassies in Beijing have highlighted LGBT rights.
Being gay in China has become harder in the last decade. While the country was never a global hotbed of queer activism, there was a period of time in the early 2000s when NGOs started to advocate for gay rights, after homosexuality had been decriminalized in 1997. But life has gotten harder since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012. He’s set a tone for a more assertive, self-reliant China strengthened by a growing population and traditional values. One outcome has been a subtle but constant narrowing of gay spaces — physical, virtual and philosophical.
A more assertive, self-reliant China has resulted in a subtle but constant narrowing of gay spaces, with internet platforms willing to step in and do the government’s dirty work. “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. Huang’s mother’s exasperation is evident from her words, “Why did I give birth to a monster?” and is juxtaposed with shots of her indulging in daily chores like picking flowers, swimming in the wild or tending her garden.
Homosexuality has always been a taboo topic in China, where rights of sexual minorities are non-existent. Social media accounts of several LGBT societies at universities were closed down last year on the basis of unspecified violations. An increasingly hostile environment is being created for groups pushing for more inclusion. China’s only big LGBT celebration, Shanghai Pride, stands cancelled after police interrogated several of its organizers. Further, LGBT groups have been accused of corrupting young people and serving hostile foreign forces, a rhetoric that has been amplified by State media. Portrayals of “effeminate” and “sissy” men were banned last year by the top media regulator. Even generic shows featuring subtly romantic male friendships have been banned. In order to prevent the ‘feminization’ of boys, Bejing’s Education ministry has called for strengthening physical education to “cultivate masculinity”.
China has also grown increasing suspicious of, or hostile to, what it sees as Western influence. Being gay, bisexual or trans is seen by some in China to be an imported or “Western” concept — a misconception that builds on the fact that many foreign embassies in Beijing have highlighted gay rights. These days, few NGOs dare to attend such diplomatic events, at least not on an official basis. Darius Longarino, Research Scholar in Law at Yale Law School and a Senior Fellow of the Paul Tsai China Center of Yale University and an expert of LGBT rights’ promotion, has said that these policies highlight a belief among China’s leaders that sexual orientation can be socially controlled. It wants to make young people “healthy” and “normal” according to its own worldview and that the party is afraid that forces outside its control are attempting to change the cultural landscape. There was a time when it seemed as if the situation might improve for gay people in China. In 2014, Peng Yanzi, an activist who is working to advance LGBT equality through China’s legal system, underwent electric shocks and hypnotism intended to “cure” his homosexuality by an unspecified clinic in China. Later, he did indeed receive an apology from the clinic, after the court ruled that same-sex attraction is not an illness. Though the case received sympathetic media coverage, conversion therapy continues to be legal in China.
Much has yet to be done in this realm, not only in China to be fair. Same-sex couples are not allowed to adopt children or marry. By the same token, people seeking sex- reassignment surgery or living with HIV AIDS have reported facing discrimination from healthcare workers. Keeping their true sexual orientation secret, homosexual individuals living in the conservative heartland tend to bow to family pressure, marry someone of the opposite sex and have children. Chinese censors in 2016 declared that television and films should avoid homosexual themes. In Xi’an, nine activists attempting to organize an LGBT rights convention were detained. The police told the organizers the city didn’t welcome gay people. The absurd censorship hit American television show “Friends”, where the plot line about Ross’ lesbian ex-wife was completely removed when it started streaming in China.
Xi Jinping has been tightening breathing space for civil society since he came to power and including groups serving the LGBTQ community. Legislations have been passed to ensure that unauthorised groups have difficulty surviving, for example by cutting them off from banking services or public meeting spaces or by banning media coverage. One of the main reasons Beijing is hostile to these movements is that they are led by civil society organisations that operate outside of the government’s authority. One of the most severe criticisms levelled is that they are allegedly agents of foreign influence, which is reminiscent of Mao’s first Cultural Revolution, when capitalists and opponents of all kinds were weeded out.
In an effort to offset the consequences of the former one-child policy, which has resulted in a rapidly greying society, the Communist Party has also pushed for couples to have additional children. Although it’s never stated explicitly, promoting LGBT rights and normalising non-traditional family arrangements could be perceived as undermining that purpose. Mr Huang says that everyone is in a state of silence and that discussions on LGBT issues have ceased. His movie, ‘ Will you look at me’ has not been released in China, but pirated versions are being shared online. On a Chinese film site, Doubon, it has received many positive reviews. The erosion of LGBTQ life as a kind of collateral damage in Xi’s increasingly conformist, conservative China, although as it is in the matter of things the population finds ways to more or less secretly adapt to this new society.