Internet censorship and survelliance are common complaints in China and the gay community are no strangers to it. As Shanghai’s week-long pride festival kicked off over the weekend, the festival website with details of the events – shanghaipride.com – has been effectively blocked by a firewall.
Shanghai’s City Weekend magazine had only said last week to look out for venue details, exact times and location to be released a day or two before each event. The strategy of the organisers was targeted to avoid complications. The government forced some events to be dropped at short notice during the first pride festival launched in the city in 2009.
Thus the opening party which flagged off the festival, the only one of its kind for LGBT in China, took place without much razzle dazzle on Saturday night. A small crowd mingled outside the Mexican restaurant in Yongjia Road in Shanghai’s former French Concession. Inside the entrance was a small poster with the word “Pride”, if one looked for it hard enough. The reception counter had a few flyers indicating there was a party going on but there were no rainbow colours or flags of any sort to mark the event. The only clue was perhaps the level of chic at the party. Men were dressed in signature tight shirts and pants and some women were androgynous, clad in jackets and hats. Except for a short drag performance, the low-key event could have been mistaken for a regular private party anywhere in the city.
Such a lack of flamboyance for a coming out party marks how conservative China remains, despite a growing gay population who are flocking to Shanghai, the financial capital, from other cities. The festival even highlights how gay culture exists in China but underground, highlighted by a talk to be held next Saturday on social pressures forcing gay men and women into arranged marriages.
Festival events are not hugely publicised and there is no commercial sponsorship. Despite the hurdles and now censorship of its website, the organisers are quietly hopeful that the festival will be as well attended as the opening night.
“It was successful. There was a bit over 600 guests last night,” said Charlene Liu, one of the festival organisers, told Fridae.
Shanghai Pride will be featuring nightly film viewings and art exhibitions this week and a pub crawl and closing party on Saturday, October 29.
Former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, who set China on its trail toward a socialist market economy, once said: "If you open the window for fresh air, you have to expect some flies to blow in." That means gay events in the country should expect to be among those flies being swatted every now and then, being considered as they are, undesirable ideology.
J.W. Ken is a poet and freelance journalist who travels the globe writing, and is now in Shanghai.
Shanghai Pride events
Saturday Oct 22, 2011
11:00-14:00 Pink Picnic
Free Zhongshan Park
中山公园
21:00-02:00 Opening Party
50rmb incl one drink Mi Tierra
17 Yong Jia Lu near Maoming Nan Lu
永嘉路17号近茂名南路
Sunday 23-Oct-11
12:00-16:00 Sports Day
Badminton & Tennis
Free Da An Hua Yuan Sports Center
999 Changshou Lu near Wanhangdu Lu
长寿路999弄近万航渡路
Monday Oct 24, 2011
19:00-23:00 Film Screening
Free Biblioteca Miguel de Cervantes
198-208 Anfu Lu near Wulumuqi Lu
安福路208号2楼,近乌鲁木齐路
19:00-23:00 Art Exhibition - Emilie Record
Free Bites Lounge by Chai Living
410C Suzhou North Road near Jiangxi North Road
北苏州路410号C座近江西北路
Tuesday Oct 25, 2011
19:00-23:00 Film Screening
Free Goethe Institut
101 Cross Tower, 318 Fu Zhou Lu
德国驻上海总领事馆文化教育处
福州路318号高腾大厦101
19:00-23:00 Art Exhibition - Emilie Record
Free Bites Lounge by Chai Living
410C Suzhou North Road near Jiangxi North Road
北苏州路410号C座近江西北路
Wednesday Oct 26, 2011
19:00-23:00 Film Screening
Free Goethe Institut
101 Cross Tower, 318 Fu Zhou Lu
德国驻上海总领事馆文化教育处
福州路318号高腾大厦101
16:00-00:00 Mid-week Out Party Brownstone
Building 4, 570 Yongjia Lu near Yueyang Lu
永嘉路570号4号楼近岳阳路
19:00-23:00 Art Exhibition - Emilie Record
Free Bites Lounge by Chai Living
410C Suzhou North Road near Jiangxi North Road
北苏州路410号C座近江西北路
Thursday Oct 27, 2011
19:00-23:00 Film Screening
Free Alliance Francais
Hongkou Center, 297 Wusong Lu near Tanggu Lu
上海法语培训中心
上海市虹口区吴淞路297号虹口业余大学5楼-6楼
19:00-23:00 Art Exhibition - Emilie Record
Free Bites Lounge by Chai Living
410C Suzhou North Road near Jiangxi North Road
北苏州路410号C座近江西北路
20:00-00:00 Ladies Billiards Competition
10rmb incl lucky draw Masse Bistro & Bar
219 Jinxian Lu, Floors 5-6 near Shaanxi Nan Lu
进贤路219号5-6楼近陕西南路
Friday Oct 28, 2011
19:00-23:00 Art Exhibition - Emilie Record
Free Bites Lounge by Chai Living
410C Suzhou North Road near Jiangxi North Road
北苏州路410号C座近江西北路
Saturday Oct 29, 2011
14:00-16:00 Comrades in Marriage Discussion
Free Hongkou Disctrict, Room 202, 2/F, 470 Haimen Lu near Zhoujiazui Lu
虹口区海门路470号2楼202室靠近周家嘴路
20:00:00-00:00 Halloween Pub Crawl
150rmb pre-sale, 200rmb on 29th Start at Transit Lounge
141 Tai An Lu near Huashan Lu
泰安路141号近华山路
21:00-04:00 Closing Party
100rmb incl 3 drink
Free for Pub Crawlers Club Angel
For details, click onto Fridae Agenda listings.
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读者回应
1) Always include a subscription-by-email column your websites to allow LGBT visitors to leave their name & email addresses. You can contact them via mass email easily whenever you need to inform them about any events you hold in the future. You should ideally store your contacts lists in an overseas server that is beyond the reach of the Chinese authority, so that even if your China-located copies are confiscated, you still have their backups.
2) Use graphic (e.g. .jpg format) instead of text (e.g. .txt or .doc format) for your emails. You can create a promotional poster saved in .jpg format, and preferably in a low resolution so that the file size is minimized. Send the posters as attachments to emails. By so doing, there is no way the firewall software can decipher your messages since there is no firewall-recognizable textual information.
You can ask, in the graphic posters, the recipients to change the file name and file size (using free graphic software) then forward the reformatted poster to their gay friends. This would make it even harder for firewall software to block the transmission of such posters. The senders, file names and file sizes are different.
3) Promote offline as well. You should consolidate a list of gay businesses (saunas, bars, massage centres, etc. ) across the country. You can distribute print posters for them to display on their premises.
If you can ask the operators of the major gay social networking websites in China to assist you, you can skip #1. Ask them to mass email their registered members #2. Within 1 day, you could reach out to millions of LGBTs in China via email. When these recipients forward your posters as described to their friends, many more millions of LGBT people can be reached.
1） 收集同志的联系资料（如电邮地址，手机号码）。 可在网站上添加让访客留下姓名及联系资料的格子。
2） 避免使用“文字格式”（如：.txt 和.doc格式) 的宣传信息。应转用“平面格式” （如：.jpg )的电子海报来传达信息，使海报内的文字不易被防火墙软件辨读。
3）除了通过电子媒体宣传，也应收集全国各地的同志场所的名单和联系资料，在需要宣传重要活动时，可派发海报给该负责人，要求他们在场内张贴海报。电函的标题部分也得避免明示是宣传同志活动的海报。
如果主办团队现在能够得到国内主要同志网站的协助，便可省掉#1步，直接把电子海报发给该负责人，请他们将它电邮给会员。为了更有效的穿过防火墙，海报可教人更改其电子文件的名字和文件大小（如用软件调整其清晰度），然后转发给各同志朋友。当然，转发时，电函的标题部分也得避免明示是宣传同志活动的海报。
Only when the CCP finally bites the dust will Chinese GLBTIs be able to pursue true personal freedom.
This is those typical western comments!
China has a population of 1300 MILLION!
YES, 1 thousand 3 hunderd MILLION people!
Try to manage a population of few hunderd million in country with ''democacy'' and > 10 % unemployment (USA & Europe)
There are no religion/ethnic groups in China who are openly against gays or use violence against gays. In the western countries there are the ''lovely'' religion/ethnic groups who ''loves'' the gays! Go freedom(do whatever you like---> personal importance---f*ck the majority(society)---> me myself and I matters!
I am glad that social media is blocked in China for the majorty! For those who wants can still get acces to everything!
These social media are excellent tools to gather people and starts a revolution-----> TOTAL CHAOS!
So lets say the CCP goes down...then what?
After revolution and total chaos what do you get?
Paralyzed, poor and ofcourse FREE at last! Don't make me laugh!
"After revolution and total chaos what do you get? Paralyzed, poor and ofcourse FREE at last!"
What happened around 1948 exactly?
I'm no expert but surely stability is maintained by the continuous civil service, you can just vote for a change of the people at the top who make the policy, when they have made disastrous decisions.
But don't forget the West is Very powerful and they will go through any lengths to impose their views and ways ( well disguised as " universal" values" - as if the Asia don't have any values ) and thereafter they leave behind mayhem.
Then they come in as saviours and tell you ....this is how you should live and behave...
Think the Americas , Australia and the pacific for starters ...and now Iraq and Afghanistan and look at Libya and gunning for Syria ...and then they just say...ooops I am sorry as in the case for Australia ....after virtually exterminating the various aboriginal races there and in the case of Tasmania ,Australia they did exterminate the entire aboriginal race on that island ...they say sorry....yea ...sorry for killing you all off and now I give you welfare and arid land for you to live and get intoxicated and then slowly let your race slowly die off......Or intermarry and dilute the Race....just look closely at Australia and you can see the white man at work in practicing and promoting their "civilization" and universal values.
For Asia ..we need to look at our own solutions and be very wary of these "do good" outsiders who . Homosexuality has a place within Asian society it is only when the colonizers and missionaries ( read do gooders ) came and imposed their ways that homosexuality became a bad thing....see thailand and their health attitude towards gays !!
Tigertje , Exactly.
But don't forget the West is Very powerful and they will go through any lengths to impose their views and ways ( well disguised as " universal" values" - as if the Asia don't have any values ) and thereafter they leave behind mayhem.
Then they come in as saviours and tell you ....this is how you should live and behave...
Think the Americas , Australia and the pacific for starters ...and now Iraq and Afghanistan and look at Libya and gunning for Syria ...and then they just say...ooops I am sorry as in the case for Australia ....after virtually exterminating the various aboriginal races there and in the case of Tasmania ,Australia they did exterminate the entire aboriginal race on that island ...they say sorry....yea ...sorry for killing you all off and now I give you welfare and arid land for you to live and get intoxicated and then slowly let your race slowly die off......Or intermarry and dilute the Race....just look closely at Australia and you can see the white man at work in practicing and promoting their "civilization" and universal values.
For Asia ..we need to look at our own solutions and be very wary of these "do good" outsiders who . Homosexuality has a place within Asian society it is only when the colonizers and missionaries ( read do gooders ) came and imposed their ways that homosexuality became a bad thing....see thailand and their health attitude towards gays !!
I am especially amazed by the foreign teachers of English language or whatever else they do ..when they came to work in china eg hubei , Liaoning etc....many are teaching and probably spreading chirstianity amongst other things at the same time....
I am not ungracious ....but I am telling them to just go and solve the problems in your own country first ....and indulge in your democracy in your own country first and when it's perfected then Asia will be willing to listen...till then...please take the first plane or sampan out.
Due to economic integration with the developed world, it is inevitable that China will have to open up. In order to gain more acceptance in the Chinese society, the LGBT community must beware of parroting Western proponents of "gay rights". The Asian way of pursuing liberty leans on "Respect", not "Right". The collective liberty of a society ensured by mutual respect is regarded as more important than individuals' liberty here. Hence, the LGBT community in China will have to exercise oriental wisdom in managing its integration into the society as China opens up. Will it pursue the Western way of achieving liberty through a confrontational approach, and be always at loggerhead with their opponents? Or will it seek to integrate by blending in and cementing their common ground?
Which brings us to the question of: "Are such film-screening pink festivals helpful to the LGBT community in China?" I think there are both pros and cons. But I am inclined to opine that there are other better ways to pursue LGBT rights than this copycat approach. At the end of the day, what concrete benefits could the LGBT community there achieve by screening these films to a few hundred people when there are millions of LGBT people still suffering in the smaller, inner cities? While trying to assert the LGBT community's "rights" through a Western-styled copycat approach of screening films, you may risk creating a parrot image.
The LGBT community in China should be reminded that, according to the Maslow's hierarchy of needs, physiological, safety, belongingness and esteem needs should come before self-actualisation needs. As such, I suggested above that the priority should be placed on the geographical expansion of LGBT community services, which address these needs.
Chinese people are clever.
I don't want to be too political but nothing lasts forever.
Unthinkable things happen. Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Libiya,
The only thing permanent is change.
Without being specific: we are seeing all over the world that political and economic corruption, rich getting richer and poor getting poorer, has a negative result eventually.
I do regret that this conversation and topic, again, revert to gay LGBT people fighting with each other. How happy the opposition to gay equal rights must be to see this in fighting and back biting?
Give it a rest.
Gay China people, do what you can do and have to do. You know best.
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