Police call halt to China's first gay cultural
festival
By Jane Macartney, China Correspondent
LIU CHUNXIAO and his partner were calm when police shut down the
opening of Chinas first gay and lesbian culture festival
yesterday. Mr Liu may be 19 but he is more than familiar with
sexual discrimination.
Organisers had planned to hold their festival of films, plays,
exhibitions and seminars on homosexuality at one of the trendiest
artistic communities in China. The venue was to be the studios and
warehouses at the 798 complex of converted factory buildings in
northeastern Beijing. Most of the capitals hippest and most
happening events take place among the grey concrete blocks,
fashionable French bistro-style bars and industrial pipes of
798.
Police notified studio owners that the event would not be allowed
to proceed. Li Yinhe, a distinguished sociologist from the
prestigious Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, had been invited to
address the opening, but had to stay away.
The group of about 30 participants bold enough to reveal their
sexuality in Chinas conservative society were undeterred by the
cancellation. They decided to move their ground-breaking event to
On/Off, a Beijing gay bar.
Police swarmed around the bar even before the group arrived. This
bar is temporarily closed for review, police told would-be
festival participants.
A few gays and lesbians retreated to a nearby hotpot restaurant.
One man who gave his name as Mr Sun said: There is no reason for
the police to stop us. We are doing nothing to disturb social
stability.
The members of Chinas gay community had little doubt as to why
On/Off had been closed. Mr Cui, a film student, said: The attitude
in China is still very conservative. They say its illegal, but
whats illegal about wanting to understand more about these
issues?
The police were clear. They didnt have permission to hold this
event, said an official.
Homosexuality has not been listed as a crime on Chinas statute
books since the 1949 communist takeover. However, homosexuals were
routinely arrested under a hooliganism clause in the law until a
reform in 1997 removed this provision. Then, in April 2001, the
biggest single advance in gay rights came with the declassification
of homosexuality as a mental disorder by the Chinese Psychiatric
Association, meaning that rather than being officially treated as a
perversion requiring psychiatric care, it was re-categorised as
something similar to an identity crisis.
Homosexuality is frowned upon in communist Chinas puritan society
but was far from unknown in imperial eras. One common name for
homosexuals in traditional China was broken sleeve, referring to
an incident in which an emperor in ancient times sliced off his
sleeve on which his adored male concubine was sleeping so as not to
wake him.
But today there is much less understanding. Mr Suns father said he
had accompanied his homosexual son to the event to try to
understand him. He said he had set up a hotline in the northeastern
city of Dalian to help parents of comrades.
The word comrade more usually associated with communist Party
members has become in some circles a term for homosexuals in
China.
He said: The family of a homosexual comes under social pressure
and just the curiosity of your neighbour is enough to drive you
crazy.
Liu Chunxiao had travelled from Inner Mongolia and his partner from
the northeastern coastal town of Qinhuangdao to attend the
festival. The young men smiled shyly, explaining that they kept in
touch every day by internet. But Mr Liu, a student, said he was
very discreet. I make sure other people dont know because the
atmosphere isnt very open.