An Exchange Student from the People's Republic of China
【The article below is the same as the article that appears in the fourteenth issue of the CGS Newsletter.】
On April 3rd, 2011, police stormed into Q Bar, a gay bar in the Bund area of Shanghai, and detained more than sixty patrons and employees for nearly twelve hours. It is reported that they were held at Xiaodongmen police station without food, drink, or blankets. Police cited a "pornographic show" at the bar as their reason for the raid, but many of the detainees deny that such a show was being staged.
There are a number of alternative explanations for this raid. Firstly, homophobia prevails in the People's Republic of China. Sodomy was decriminalized in 1997, and homosexuality was officially removed from a list of mental illnesses in 2001. However, homosexuals, and sexual minorities in general, are still subject to discrimination in the wider community. Even though such attitudes are gradually fading away among the younger generation, I have myself experienced the deep-rooted prejudice that still exists among their parents' generation and society as a whole.
The nature of politics in the People's Republic of China may have been another contributing factor. As seen by recent events in which a number of pro-democracy campaigners were detained and arrested, the government tends to restrict the freedom of its citizens without examining their political assertions or social positions if they are judged to be a threat to political stability. This was illustrated by the fact that only the Chinese patrons and employees at Q Bar were taken into custody, while foreign citizens were allowed to leave (although this is also partly because police can only detain Chinese citizens by law). Other cases involving politics and perhaps also homophobia are the major police raid on a Shanghai gay bar in 2007, and the last-minute police intervention that led to the cancellation of Beijing's gay and lesbian culture festival in 2005. Furthermore, the Shanghai Pride festival was rst held in 2009, but organizers were compelled by authorities to cancel some events at very short notice, and the planned gay parade was not allowed to take place. Activities for LGBT empowerment are often suppressed when they are considered to clash with city and provincial governments. As the situation for LGBTs in the People's Republic of China is a complex mix of political, cultural, and historical contexts, there are obviously a number of other factors to be considered besides those listed above. It should also be noted that the situation di ers in Beijing and other cities, as well as Taiwan and Hong Kong.
For now, I wish to conclude by expressing my hope for the realization of a world in which LGBTs in the People's Republic of China and across the globe are no longer discriminated for their sexual orientations.