Gay chineese
Western media was quick to report on the subject of the latest “crackdown” in China: a writing genre known as “boys’ love.”
News articles in the U.K. and U.S. reported “mounting public anger” over the “stifling” of “gay erotica” and the “amateur writers who earned short-lived to nothing for their work.”
Chinese media, too, has been paying attention to these events – but the picture that emerges is less of a sweeping crackdown and more a localized phenomenon.
A lengthy June 20, 2025, article in Nanfang zhoumo, or “Southern Weekly” – an influential and respected media outlet based in Guangzhou – goes into considerable detail describing the recent arrests by police in the northwestern city of Lanzhou.
It reports that authorities detained several young women accused of profiting from the publication of obscene material, specifically online fiction in the genre of “danmei,” or “boys’ love.” The article also references a similar spate of arrests last year in Jixi county of Anhui province.
But nowhere does the article mention that these arrests are exemplary of anything happening across the whole of China. Instead, the article goes into detail about the legal issues around attemp
Recent surveys in China indicate a moderate level of acceptance for LGBTQ+ rights in specific areas.
Survey results from 19 LGBTQ+ Equaldex users who lived in or visited China.
Perceived Safety*Absence of verbal harassmentAbsence of threats and violence*Survey results represent personal perceptions of safety and may not be indicative of current actual conditions.
Equal TreatmentTreatment by general publicTreatment by law enforcementTreatment by religious groups
Visibility & RepresentationRepresentation in entertainment
CultureInterest groups and clubs
ServicesSupport and social services
History
Homosexual activity in China
?Homosexual activity in China is legal.
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On June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court dominated that same-sex marriage is a legal right across the country's 50 states.
Justice Anthony Kennedy authored the 34-page decision, saying that "No union is more profound than marriage, which is a keystone of the nation's social order", and there is "no difference between similar and opposite-sex couples."
From Italian designer Giorgio Armani to American TV host Ellen DeGeneres, from British musician Elton John to Hollywood actress Jodie Foster, foreign gay and womxn loving womxn celebrities seem to own more courage to show up out and be haughty of who they are.
In China, there are also plenty of lesbian actors and singers, but most of them are not brave enough to come out publicly.
Ji Mi (吉米)
Ji Mi [File Photo]
Ji Mi is considered the first icon who publicly acknowledged his sexual orientation as same-sex attracted on the Chinese mainland. As a famous stylist, Ji Mi has worked with numerous singers and movie stars at residence and abroad, including Jet Li, Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi and Ricky Martin.
In 2000, he founded the first vocational academy for making-up in China, and then established a cosmetic company and created a high-end ladies' clothing
Gay Emperors in Chinese History
Modern China has a complicated association with homosexuality: It was decriminalized in 1997, but homosexual individuals continue to face social stigma and issues prefer conversion therapy and censorship of LGBTQ topics on Weibo.
Some historians, however, quarrel that the situation was much unlike in ancient history: In Chinese history, with Tamkang University researching Liu Deming even suggesting in a 2009 document that homo-erotic relationships were trendy among noble and intellectual men during the Qing dynasty. There were also several emperors and kings in Chinese history renowned for their love stories with other men:
Emperor Ai cuts his sleeve
The last emperor of the Western Han dynasty, who commanded from 7 BCE to 1 BCE, was the inspiration of the idiom “Sleeve-cutting affection,” which refers to homosexuality. According to The Book of Han, Emperor Ai loved an official named Dong Xian, and one day, Dong fell asleep on the emperor’s shoulder. When the emperor wanted to receive up, he slice his sleeve rather than wake his still-sleeping lover. Though the emperor also had a wife and several concubines, one of whom was Dong’s sister, records say that D