Fun Fast Facts:
Updated: 16 Sep 2014 (Changing attitudes led by the young)
- Traditional terms for homosexuality include “the passion of the cut sleeve” and “the bitten peach”. But today “tongzhi” is more commonly used in the gay community (literally, ‘comrade’). Lesbians usually call themselves lazi.
- The existence of homosexuality in China has been well documented since ancient times. According to one study, homosexuality in China was regarded as a normal facet of life in China, with many early Chinese emperors speculated to have had homosexual relationships, accompanied by heterosexual ones.
- Homosexual sodomy was banned in the People’s Republic of China from at least the twentieth century, until it was legalised in 1997.
- Adult, consensual and non-commercial homosexuality has been legal in the China since 1997, when the national penal code was revised. However, despite these changes, no civil rights law exists to address discrimination or harassment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
- In 2009 a male couple held a symbolic wedding in public, and China Daily featured the photo of the two men in a passionate embrace across its pages. Other symbolic gay and lesbian weddings have been held across the country and have been covered positively by the Chinese media.
- In 2012, Luo Hongling, a university professor, completed suicide because she knew her husband was a gay man. She alleged their marriage was just a lie since the man could not admit he was gay to his parents. Luo was considered a ‘homowife’ – local slang for a woman married to a homosexual male.
- In 2014, an online survey of 7,000 young Chinese revealed 87% of respondents said they accepted gay people, compared to 13% who said they did not understand homosexuality.
- Does not recognise Chinese same-sex marriage.
- “Three no’s”: No approval, no disapproval, no promotion.
Changing attitudes led by the young
Broadcast: 16 Sep 2014
W3JOY interviewed: Felix, a Chinese born student now living in Melbourne
“The reality in China is that the older people didn’t notice gay things. They know nothing about that. They never knew about these things because they shouldn’t happen… but actually it happens.”
“I told her (my sister) about that (being gay) before and she said ‘oh probably because our family, you are covered by the parents and covered by me too well. That’s why you love guys but probably you will find you love girls later’”.”
“I didn’t really talk about that (being gay) with my parents. But my Dad used to tell me ‘look at the western countries and how they are open to these different sexualities. It’s a really good thing’. He said it’s a really good thing but I didn’t dare to tell him – ‘sorry Dad I am a gay’. But it seems like he is pretty cool with that.”
“I didn’t really have a relationship with someone before. ‘Cos I don’t know their sexualities – even I can’t tell. I think my gaydar is very sensitive but I can’t really tell people’s sexuality in China because they hide themselves well'”
“A lot of people, LGBT people, need to stand up – need to talk about their relationship, talk about their emotions, talk about their stories to people. We need to share.”
Listen to the podcast
Self-censorship in a ghost-like community
Broadcast: 6 May 2013
LGBTIQ-friendly organisation: The Beijing LGBT Centre
- A non-profit, community-based organisation that empowers the Beijing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community through providing social services and organising advocacy programs.
- Their work seeks to further the LGBT movement, eliminate discrimination and achieve quality.
- The centre runs social support groups and helplines.
W3JOY interviewed: Benjamin Law, author of Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East
“I was curious: if you want to hook up online, where begin online doesn’t exist, what do you do?”
“It’s a huge education that’s still going on, because it is very hidden.”
“There was one young guy I spoke to, he would put himself through different forms of therapy – antidepressants and drugs. He does read [the pro-gay websites] but he’s not sure who to believe.”
On the LGBT centre;
“Out of this gray, sad-looking phallus there was this rainbow of hope.”
“I found it staggering that an LGBT Centre even existed in China. It’s very much a community space… because it’s China, you can’t really protest.”
“They would organise soft diplomacy… almost like an “It Gets Better” campaign.”
On censorship;
“It’s hard to gauge the Chinese Government stance on homosexuality… There have been a few queer websites that have been shut down… What happens more is the website moderators would really censor themselves.”
On family;
“A young woman had come out to her parents as being gay. Her parents were not very happy. They followed her back to the city and forced her female lover out of her apartment.”
“If you speak to a lot of Chinese people, it’s this idea that it’s almost like cutting off a limb to cut off family. Family is such an intrinsic part of you.”
“You’re the only child, so you’re expected to have children and get married…[you] represent a pension policy. SO the idea that you don’t get married and have children yourself, that buys into the idea that you will not take care of your parents.”
“There’s this idea of marriage as a very practical thing to do.”
“Because marriage is hand-in-hand with property ownership in China, some lesbians and gay men will co-habitate.”
Partners;
“These people are getting married and they’ve got their same-sex partners at the wedding ceremony (often posing as a couple themselves). At the end of the night covertly in the hotel hallways, they swap their parters covertly.”
On closeted gay men;
“This has been happening in China so much, that there is a term for them. The actual literally translation is “homo-wives”. If your husband has cheated on you with another man because they’re gay, this is China. How do you have that conversation?”
“In China there’s a different problem altogether. They don’t have homophobia as we know it. They have this complete aspect and this complete silence. This sort of ghost-like aspect… You don’t even necessarily have a name for your feelings. It must be such a crippling thing to feel something and not even have a way to describe something in your head and your heart.”