Cha’s LGBTQ muny has long had to al wh not only societal prejudice but also prsure om the state: censorship, surveillance and timidatn, at tim even tentn by police. Durg the early 2000s, though, looked like thgs might be changg. Gay clubs flourished big ci and muny groups sprang up to offer social servic. The days, the feelg has fad. While ’s difficult to pot to any direct crackdown, the realy is that over the past ’s bee to
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* lgbt rights in china *
Durg this year’s Pri Month, soccer star Li Yg ma history as Cha’s first female athlete to e out publicly as gay, a ndid seri of celebratory photos posted on social media, showg her posg happily alongsi her partner. And while much of the reactn was posive, wh people sendg their ngratulatns, Li’s acunt was also undated wh a wave of homophobic abe.
In years past, June was filled wh LGBTQ (lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer) events major ci such as Shanghai and Beijg, durg which Cha’s sexual mori uld semi-openly celebrate their inty. Cha crimalized homosexualy 1997 and removed om s official list of mental disorrs 2001. Some LGBTQ people have blamed the crackdown on the rrect imprsn that homosexualy is a Wtern import to Cha, and groups supportg gay rights are liable to filtratn by foreign forc.
Some also spect a more direct lk between the crackdown on LGBTQ rights and top officials’ worldviews, which for many were shaped durg the Cultural Revolutn the 1960s and ’70s, when thori attempted to purge any “non-socialist” elements — cludg homosexualy — om Che society.