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Read and compare articles, opinions and analyses gathered from the best news sources around the globe.
Shanghai hosted China's first gay pride festival this week. (Image: Wikipedia)
Latest world viewpoints
A coming out party?
“Shanghai Pride is a community building exercise. We hope to raise awareness of issues surrounding homosexuality, raise the visibility of the gay community, help people within our community to come out, and build bridges between the gay and straight communities,” Tiffany Lemay on CRI
“If you attract a lot of attention and media reports, the government will intervene," Wan Yanhai on Christian Science Monitor
This week, Shanghai hosted China's first gay pride festival. Is this a sign of growing openness and acceptance for China's gay community?
Homosexuality, known as dùanxìu zhī pǐ or “the passion of the cut sleeve,” has been documented in China since ancient times. In modern times, however, the attitude towards homosexuals has not been as welcoming. It was only in 1997 that gay sex was decriminalized, CRI reports, and four years after that authorities took homosexuality off a list of mental illnesses.
News that Shanghai would be hosting a gay pride festival was hailed by China Daily, which said it was a sign of the nation's social progress. Organizers were surprised, though, to learn that despite the positive attention from state and foreign media, authorities in Shanghai have moved to limit some of the planned activities, BBC says.
In May, AP reported that a sex theme park in Chongqing was demolished even before it opened. Local authorities did not give a reason for the demolition. More recently, the Chinese government issued a directive that beginning July 1, all computers sold should have a filtering program installed that would block access to pornographic sites, Time reports.
It is interesting to note that in Chinese media coverage of the event, the word used to refer to attitudes towards homosexual is "tolerance." Is it possible for China's gay community to instead find "acceptance" unless China resolves its ambivalence towards the larger question of human sexuality?
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| China | Europe | North-America | From elsewhere |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shanghai Hosts First Gay Pride Festival CRI - 11th June 2009 The visibility of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community in China has been growing fast recently but its profile became more prominent this week as Shanghai hosted the country's first gay pride festival. Pride of tolerance China Daily - 10th June 2009 The ongoing Shanghai Pride 2009, the largest festival of the gay and lesbian community on the Chinese mainland, is a good showcase of the country's social progress alongside the three decades of economic boom. Gay pride fest runs afoul of Shanghai authorities China.org.cn - 11th June 2009 The organizers of Shanghai's first gay pride festival started off the week believing that Shanghai was willing to tolerate a more open attitude toward homosexuality. Survey: 60% of university students dissatisfied with school sex education People's Daily - 22nd May 2009 Which issues most concern university students? Aside from the impending employment issue, issues also include sex education in schools. Gay couples say 'I do' in symbolic marriages China.org.cn - 16th April 2009 In a nation where same-sex marriages are not legal, Comrades (gays) and Lalas (lesbians) are trying to find colorful formats to fulfill their wedding fantasies, according to people familiar with their communities. Expert: Chinese society's demand for marriage may be helping the spread of AIDS Xinhua - 20th March 2009 Social expectations that men must get married is forcing homosexual males into heterosexual marriages and exposing married women to HIV infection, a Chinese expert warned Thursday. |
China's first Gay Pride event AFP - 11th June 2009 China's first Gay Pride event, organised by Shanghai's English-speaking expatriates, has been quietly celebrating homosexuality this week with no hint of a parade or advertising hype. China bans parts of gay festival BBC - 10th June 2009 The organisers of China's first Gay Pride Festival have been told to cancel two of their sessions. China opens up: Gay Pride hits Shanghai Telegraph - 9th June 2009 China celebrates its first-ever Gay Pride event in Shanghai this week. China's web filtering software move raises censorship concerns Radio86 - 9th June 2009 China wants all personal computers sold on the domestic market to be equipped with free Chinese- developed software that blocks access to online pornography as of July 1, the developer of the software said yesterday. Première semaine Gay Pride en Chine 24heures.ch - 7th June 2009 Le coup d'envoi de la première semaine Gay Pride jamais organisée en Chine a été donné dimanche à Shanghaï, mais les organisateurs ont exclu toute manifestation dans des lieux publics, se dispensant ainsi de devoir demander l'autorisation des autorités. Une première Gay Pride discrète à Shanghaï Rue89 - 8th June 2009 Le coup d'envoi de la première semaine Gay Pride jamais organisée en Chine a été donné à Shanghaï, mais les organisateurs ont exclu toute manifestation dans des lieux publics, se dispensant ainsi de devoir demander l'autorisation des autorités. |
Staid in China: Yet-to-open sex park demolished AP - 18th May 2009 This investment turned out to be as risky as it was risque. A sex theme park that featured explicit exhibits of genitalia and sexual culture is being demolished before it can even open, a government spokesman in southwestern China said Monday. China Netizens Angry Over Web Porn Crackdown Time - 10th June 2009 Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang defended the government's decision to require computer makers to install the filtering program, called Green Dam Youth Escort, in order to protect young Chinese from "unhealthy content including pornography and violence." Chinese City Is Chilly to a Sex Theme Park New York Times - 19th May 2009 Sex in China has a long and varied history, as evidenced by accounts of carnal excess in “The Plum in the Golden Vase,” a Ming-era classic, and more recent tales of Mao’s insatiable appetite. China hushes up first gay pride week Christain Science Monitor - 11th June 2009 Organizers of China's first gay pride week were struggling Thursday to find new venues for their events after police in Shanghai warned clubs and bars against joining the planned festival. |
Shanghai kicks off China gay pride week The Age, Australia - 7th June 2009 China's first Gay Pride Week kicked off in Shanghai on Sunday, but without the customary street celebrations as organisers sought to maintain a low profile and steer clear of official approval. China's Sexual Revolution SBS, Australia - 25th May 2009 It's most common to hear about China's Cultural Revolution and its sizzling Economic Revolution. But have you heard about its other great social upheaval – the Chinese sexual revolution – and like everything in the country it's happening at warp speed. |
