For decades we have been hearing about how China is “communist,” yet they are more conservative than we are, cracking down on the LGBT cult and arresting gay activists and banning “pride” rallies, as we read in BBC:
While celebrations were held around the world for Pride month, there were no major LGBT events in China.
The country’s largest Pride event has been suspended since 2021.
The organiser, a group named ShanghaiPride, did not give a reason for the move, saying at the time it was “cancelling all upcoming activities and taking a break from scheduling any future events.”
People taking part in political protests in China often face punishment, so instead of holding parades, ShanghaiPride had organised dance parties, community runs and film screenings in the city.
Now, only a few low-profile events are available for the LGBT community such as “voguing balls”, where dancers execute moves inspired by model poses.
And ShanghaiPride is not the only major LGBT group to cease operations.
In recent years, several others have had to shut down, raising fears of a crackdown on activism in the world’s second largest economy.Dozens of accounts dealing with LGBT topics on the popular Chinese messaging app WeChat were reportedly deleted in 2021.
The same year, a group which filed lawsuits on behalf of members of the LGBT community closed down. There were reports that its founder was detained by authorities, with the closure of the group being a condition for his release.
And last month, the Beijing LGBT Center became the latest group to stop operations “due to forces beyond our control”.
“With the closure of the Beijing LGBT Center, the last large LGBT organisation in China has decided to take a break,” Raymond Phang, the co-founder of ShanghaiPride, told the BBC.
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“There was huge pressure on ShanghaiPride leaders and advocates and it became more and more challenging to organise events,” he said.
“After 12 years of operations, organisers agreed that we could take a break, recharge and wait for the situation to get better”.
A leader of another LGBT organisation, who has also left China, told the BBC that pressure from authorities has taken a toll on those pushing for social change.
“Organisers have been detained, and their friends and family members have been questioned by the police. This results in a lot of mental health pressure,” said the activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity.