In China, the LGBTQI+ community stands as a powerful force of resistance amid the Communist Party’s increasing crackdown on dissent.
New data from Freedom House show there were at least 34 occasions in which Chinese LGBTQ demonstrated "dissent" or defiance online and offline during the first half of 2023 despite authorities' repressive actions to keep them in line,
according to Nikkei Asia.The figures, which form part of Freedom House’s China Dissent Monitor database, represent dissenting acts meant to "voice grievances, assert rights or advance interests in contention with authorities or social structure.”
LGBTQ dissent in China monitored by Freedom House ranged from in-person celebrations of Pride Month in June to online posts covering contentious issues like HIV or sexual discrimination.
In 1997, China
decriminalized homosexuality — which used to be punishable by imprisonment or execution. There have been
some concessions since, such citizens being allowed to change their gender in official documents, but only after a sex reassignment surgery. Same-sex marriage is still illegal and there are still no legal protections from discrimination.
Over two decades later, China’s reluctant tolerance of the LGBTQ community has failed to create an environment that feels safe for most to come out.
Saurav Jung Thapa, associate director of research at Human Rights Campaign Global, said in a
2015 report that the lack of protection from discrimination for LGBT people in China had pressured many to lead a "double life" by marrying the opposite sex or undergoing harmful “corrective” treatment.
Amid challenges, the LGBTQ movement in China has found ways to become more visible through the years.
In 2009, volunteers organized the first Shanghai Pride — the only large-scale LGBTQ event held in mainland China to this day. It became the longest-running LGBTQ festival in the country before it was
suspended in 2020. Organizers said they stopped because of “huge pressure,” presumably from Chinese authorities.
Today, LGBTQ event organizers say they are often accused of threatening
national security. But their community has “shown resilience,” said Yuhsuan Chien, a China Dissent Monitor analyst.
"Groups and individuals still sometimes hold physical events to raise public awareness of LGBT+ rights and provide support to the community ... Increased pressure has pushed more advocacy to online spaces,” Chien said.