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.

  • @Joncash2@lemmy.ml
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    11 months ago

    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.

    • @wahming
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      1011 months ago

      Did you read the article beyond the first paragraph? ONE case was related to a ‘kidnapping’ accusation. The rest of the examples have been about systematic persecution of LGBT related parties

      • @Joncash2@lemmy.ml
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        211 months ago

        Yes I did. Here’s a few quotes from that article.

        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

        And

        Li Tingting (left) and Teresa at their wedding reception in Beijing, China, July 2015. Li, 25, a prominent rights activist announced their marriage in an effort to push for LGBTQ rights in China

        As well as it gives several examples of abusive families who manipulate the law to attack those who help their children. Like the trans woman who tried to protect the run away trans woman.

        I said it’s not good. But it’s not the government pushing this. It straight says so in the article in the quotes I’m posting.

        • @wahming
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          711 months ago

          As per the article, the reasons for the arrests are kidnapping

          As I pointed out, kidnapping is a side issue, and unrelated to the majority of the cases.

          this is not exactly an LGBTQ+ issue.

          But it’s not the government pushing this.

          From the article:

          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.

          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. That year, dozens of social media accounts associated with university campus LGBTQ+ movements were also shut without warning. Shanghai Pride, the country’s longest-running celebration for sexual minorities, ended in 2020.

          How is this not directly caused by the govt, and ‘not exactly an LGBTQ+ issue’?

          • @Joncash2@lemmy.ml
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            11 months ago

            I’ve already talked about it. When China doesn’t know what to do they censor everyone. But there are still gay bars and gay pride has gone into dance clubs.

            Heres a guide on where to go.

            https://www.travelgay.com/beijing-gay-bars-and-clubs

            Heck, they censored one of their most popular videos games genshin impact because it was too sexy. They censor straight sex too. In fact you could argue if they didn’t censor gay pride it would be preferential treatment.

            Hell your quote literally says it.

            Chinese Communist party’s broader crackdown on civil society and freedom of expression.

            • @wahming
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              511 months ago

              Ok, so it’s semantics.

              Look, if the LGBT population is being persecuted for being LGBT, that makes it an LGBT issue. If others are being affected as well, that means there are multiple, and broader issues, but that doesn’t make it any less an issue for the LGBT population. And it is very much being pushed by the govt.

              • @Joncash2@lemmy.ml
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                111 months ago

                Everyone is getting prosecuted equally so no it’s not an LGBTQ issue anymore than breathing is an LGBTQ issue.

                • @wahming
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                  511 months ago

                  What is with that stance?

                  ‘They’re being persecuted for being LGBT, but others are being persecuted as well for unrelated reasons, so it’s not an LGBT issue’.

                  If you’re being persecuted for being LGBT, it’s an LGBT issue! It doesn’t matter who else is being persecuted, it’s not mutually exclusive!

                  • @Joncash2@lemmy.ml
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                    11 months ago

                    Again it’s not about LGBTQ. It’s anything to do with dressing different or talking about sex. That’s why boy love films are so popular in China. They dress them in fancy traditional garb and have sexual tension but no kissing or sex. Hell some of them got so popular they got onto Netflix.

                    Here’s the main Chinese propaganda mouth piece promoting it.

                    https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1168331.shtml