LGBTQ in China

A marginalised community fights for acceptance
+ FOLLOW
Register and follow to be notified the next time content from LGBTQ in China is published.

LGBTQ issues are still a taboo topic in China, and the community faces harsh consequences like ostracization, unemployment and even jail. However, the LGBTQ community is also fighting to be seen and heard, and many LGBTQ people are living openly and loudly amid growing acceptance from society.

Latest News
News
Politics
Police in China are cracking down on gay-themed erotic fiction, with reports that up to 50 writers have been arrested since June. Photo: Shutterstock
Politics
Chinese police target writers of gay erotica with prison terms and heavy fines
The crackdown in Anhui has triggered debates about possible abuses of power and whether the law itself is too heavy-handed.
8
A colorised electron microscope image shows mpox particles in red found within an infected cell, shown as blue. Photo: AP
Health & Environment
Hong Kong at risk of mpox outbreak as population has low immunity, experts say
World Health Organization has declared mpox outbreaks in Africa public health emergency of international concern.
5
Author JK Rowling critical of the IOC’s decision to allow Lin Yu-ting to compete in women’s boxing events despite her being a biological female. Photo: AP
The Buzz
Chinese Taipei fans hammer JK Rowling over ‘trans’ comments aimed at boxer
Author, a vocal opponent to trans rights, calls Lin Yu-ting part of the ‘insanity’ of trans athletes competing in women’s sport.
40
LGBTQ British actor Russell Tovey at the David Hockney exhibition he co-curated at Shanghai’s Modern Art Museum. Photo: MAM
Arts
My tour of Shanghai’s art scene with Talk Art podcast host Russell Tovey
Gay British actor, podcaster and LGBTQ icon Russell Tovey visits Shanghai where, in between gallery visits, he co-curates a David Hockney show and de facto Pride party.
Photo: SCMP composite
Society
How a HK$1 billion manhunt pushed Gigi Chao from the closet to LGBTQ activist
Hong Kong LGBTQ activist Gigi Chao talks about her life and relationship with tycoon father, who offered a ‘dowry’ for any man who could marry her.
For many, Chengdu has become synonymous with openness.
Family & Relationships
How Chengdu became known as China’s ‘gay capital’
Although same-sex unions aren’t legally recognised in China, the first symbolic gay marriages happened in Chengdu.
Society
How Chengdu became known as China’s ‘gay capital’
Taiwanese Drag queen Nymphia Wind talks to media before the Second Taipei International Drag Festival in Taipei in May. Photo: CHIBA / AFP
Entertainment
Taiwan’s drag queens celebrate Nymphia Wind’s win on RuPaul’s Drag Race
Taiwan-raised Nymphia Wind recently won RuPaul’s Drag Race – the first East Asian drag artist to do so. We look at how drag culture has evolved on the island and talk to some of its leading lights.
Couples Shane Lin (right) and Marc Yuan, and Cynical Chick (left) and Li Ying-Chien, kiss after registering for marriage at the Household Registration Office in Taipei, Taiwan on May 24, 2019. Photo: Reuters
China
Taiwan legalises same-sex marriage in landmark ruling – from the SCMP archive
On this day five years ago, Taiwan lawmakers voted in favour of recognising same-sex unions, making it the first place in Asia to do so.
2
Hu Jun (left) and Liu Ye in a still from Lan Yu, the 2001 film by Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan.
Entertainment
How Stanley Kwan explored sexuality in his films Lan Yu and Hold You Tight
Hold You Tight and Lan Yu were daring films for their time. The first stars Chingmy Yau, then an actress in adults-only films, as a bored wife who has an affair, while the latter is a stylish gay drama.
Director of Immigration Benson Kwok shows off his department’s new self-service document submission kiosk. Photo: May Tse
Society
Hong Kong introduces national security risk test for all visa applicants
Director of Immigration Benson Kwok reveals department will evaluate background and ‘past statements’ of visa applicants to determine whether they pose a risk.
69
The workplace rights of transgender people in China have been boosted after a Beijing court ruled in favour of a trans staffer who was sacked for taking time off to recover from gender reassignment surgery. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock
Gender & Diversity
Trans rights boosted in China as court backs sacked worker, calls for ‘respect’
The rights of transgender workers in China have been given a shot in the arm after a Beijing court ruled in favour of an employee who was fired for taking time off to recover from gender reassignment surgery.
3
Lawmaker Priscilla Leung attends a November 1 press conference at Legco in Admiralty to call for a ban on the Gay Games. At a recent Basic Law forum, she made the leap from the city hosting the Games to a discussion on marriage equality. Photo: Edmond So
Comment
Opinion|Open and inclusive society? Not judging by ongoing outrage over Gay Games
Priscilla Leung’s off-script warning at a Basic Law forum that any discussion of gay marriage could tear society apart and have a bigger impact than the enactment of local national security laws merits deeper scrutiny.
18
The Gay Games event in Hong Kong was originally set to kick off last year, but was delayed amid the pandemic. Photo: Handout
Society
Are Hong Kong government agencies giving Gay Games the cold shoulder?
Four ‘supporting organisations’ have done little to help with grants, venues or promotion efforts
56
First-grade students in hanfu hold up cards with the character “ren” meaning “person” during an initiation ceremony to learn about traditional culture at a primary school in Anlong county, Guizhou province, on August 28. Photo: AFP
Comment
Opinion|China banning clothes that hurt national feelings would be a stitch too far
Proposal to criminalise clothes that hurt national feelings is a step too far. Concerns are already growing as young people wearing kimonos or T-shirts with rainbows are barred by security, even detained by police
23
A gay Chinese couple tour a condominium block in Bangkok last month. Thailand is proving to be a huge draw for LGBTQ people from China who are frequently scorned and ostracised at home. Photo: AP
Southeast Asia
China’s LGBTQ tourists flock to Thailand to ‘forget all upsetting things’
Bangkok is only a five-hour flight from Beijing, and Thailand’s tourism authorities actively promote it as among the region’s most open destinations to LGBTQ people.
Censors have put the squeeze on the Chinese LGBTQ community, with the scrutiny getting tougher post-Covid. Photo: AFP
Politics
Chinese LGBTQ organisations look for ways to survive crackdown
LGBTQ groups in China battling increased censorship and police checks since Covid-19 pandemic
4
Illustration: Eunice Tse
Diplomacy
The odd couple: German far right shows unlikely affinity for Communist China
China has embraced the relationship with the Alternative for Germany party, which sent a high-ranking delegation to Beijing and Shanghai for a week-long visit in June.
62
Brian Leung, the host of Hong Kong’s recently cancelled LGBTQ radio show “We Are Family”, is “proud” of working on the show for 17 years, but wasn’t surprised when he found out it was going to be cancelled in July. Photo: Edmond So
Entertainment
‘I tried my very best’: host of Hong Kong’s axed LGBTQ radio show reflects
Brian Leung, the host of Hong Kong’s recently cancelled LGBTQ radio show We Are Family, reflects on 17 years of the programme, and why he’s not surprised about its abrupt axing.
1
Authorities have urged people in high-risk groups to get vaccinated for mpox as soon as possible. Photo: AP
Health & Environment
‘No need to panic’ over Hong Kong’s spike in mpox cases, as vaccination centre opens
Concern groups urge individuals at risk to get vaccinated, and make sure to know their sex partners.
11
Radio host and LGBTQ advocate Brian Leung predicts a “long winter” for the community after the demise of the RTHK show. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
Society
RTHK cancels Hong Kong’s only LGBTQ radio show, ‘a step backward for community’
Host Brian Leung and others say show made a big impact on LGBTQ community by airing issues that mattered.
38
Japan is the only G7 nation with no legal protection for same-sex unions. Photo: AFP
East Asia
Chinese diplomat causes stir in Japan after calling trans people ‘deformed’
Chinese consul general in Osaka Xue Jian said ‘tampering with gender is a deformity, not the evolution of human civilisation’.
A Beijing-based choir comprising members of the LGBT community prepares backstage before a concert during Shanghai’s Pride celebrations in June 2018. Photo: Simon Song
Comment
Opinion|China’s LGBT community doesn’t need Western ‘gay pride’
For LGBT people in China, sexuality is part, not all, of who they are as their familial role and national identity take precedence. What they want most is love and acceptance, not pride parades.
10
Taiwan has legislated to allow joint adoption by gay couples. Photo: Reuters
Politics
Taiwan grants joint adoption rights to same-sex couples
Legislature passes amendment to civil code making adoption process the same for all couples.
32
The Gay Games in Hong Kong was originally scheduled for last year. Photo: Handout
Hong Kong
Gay Games ‘will bring out Hong Kong’ thanks to sponsors after no public funding
Postponed event set to attract 30,000 participants and spectators to the city in November, having raised over US$3million in absence of government support.
6
Two Tsinghua University students were disciplined for leaving some rainbow flags in public areas on campus. The women have now filed a lawsuit against China’s Ministry of Education to have the punishment reviewed. Photo: Weibo
Politics
Chinese students disciplined over rainbow flags sue Education Ministry
Advocates commend the Tsinghua University pair for persisting in a mainland environment where public discussion of LGBTQ rights is considered sensitive and is censored.
4
Chinese social media has gone into an overwhelmingly positive meltdown after a video was posted online showing a 38-year-old uncle “coming out” to his family at a Lunar New Year dinner. Photo: SCMP composite
Gender & Diversity
‘So cute’: 2 million marvel as uncle ‘comes out’ at Lunar New Year family gathering
A video of a man in southwestern China’s Sichuan province “coming out” and announcing that his wife is a lesbian to his family at a Lunar New Year’s Eve gathering has gone viral during the holiday season on the mainland.
7
Henry Edward Tse outside the Court of Final Appeal holding a fai chun, or traditional decorative scroll, carrying the Chinese characters for “victory”. Photo: Edmond So
Society
Rights of 2 transgender men breached over ID cards, top Hong Kong court rules
Case brought by Henry Edward Tse and ‘Q’ in 2019 against commissioner of registration after he refused to review gender status on their identity cards.
14
Opinion
Then & Now|All you need to know about soybeans – including their lesbian link
Healthy and full of protein, soybeans have been a popular foodstuff in China for centuries. Here’s how they’re processed, made into products like soy sauce – and used in Cantonese to refer to lesbians.
Jason Wordie
2
Reflections|Did Chinese emperor identify as a woman like Roman emperor Elagabalus?
Reports of Roman emperor Elagabalus begging to undergo gender transition and Chinese emperor Ming of the Wei dynasty wearing feminine fashions show why we should sometimes question historical accounts.
Wee Kek Koon
2
My Take|Would Confucius condone same-sex marriage?
Long-time Post reader and letter writer Mark Peaker squares off with arch-conservative lawmaker Junius Ho Kwan-yiu over LGBTQ rights as Ho cites Confucianism in his defence.
SCMP ColumnistAlex Lo
10
LOADING
Unfollowed
View all