Shanghai's First Gay Pride

A little news item for those interested in China:

"Shanghai's Gay Pride Week kicks off with one foot firmly in the closet"

Agence France-Presse in Shanghai and Staff Reporter

Jun 08, 2009
South China Morning Post

The mainland's first Gay Pride Week has kicked off in Shanghai, but without the customary street celebrations as organisers sought to maintain a low profile and steer clear of official approval.

Instead, gays and lesbians in Shanghai will hold film screenings, workshops, art exhibitions and charity events, while an all-day party is scheduled for Saturday, American organiser Tiffany Lemay said.

"We have consulted a lawyer to determine how safe this is, and he suggested that we not apply for approval or consult with the government," Ms Lemay said.

"All of our events will be open to the public, but they will be held at private venues. So there will be no events in public spaces or in parks."

The event is largely being organised by expatriates in co-ordination with the domestic Rainbow League, which boasts about 2,000 members, Ms Lemay, 32, said. The week-long event would raise funds through donations and corporate sponsorship for Hong Kong's Chi Heng Foundation, with proceeds going to its China Aids Orphan Project, she said.

Promoting tolerance would be the theme. Organisers estimate that there are up to 200,000 homosexuals in Shanghai and hope to draw up to 2,000 visitors.

Homosexuality has long been a taboo subject on the mainland with gay sex decriminalised only in 1997, while homosexual behaviour was officially viewed as a mental disorder until 2001.

According to the China Daily, there are up to 30 million gay men and women on the mainland, just under 3 per cent of the population.

Beijing has a track record of intolerance against gay events. In December 2005, Beijing police shut down the mainland's first gay festival.

The festival, which attracted more than 400 participants, was forced to close after the police raided the well-known gay bar On-and-Off. Organisers originally booked the avant-garde 798 art colony for the event, but were told by police it could not go ahead.

They then moved the festival to the gay bar and sought to keep the location secret to avoid police harassment. However, police drove the participants from On-and-Off and told the bar's management that it would have to close for a week.

Police did not give a clear reason for shutting the festival. At first, they said it was not approved by the government. They also claimed the bar did not have proper fire safety measures and demanded to check the fire extinguishers. Later, they demanded checks of the certificates of the lighting engineers.

In 2006, an internet-domain-name registration company purged several influential homosexual websites under pressure in a crackdown on "illegal content".

At least three gay forums have been closed in the cleanup process."