It’s no secret that China is not the most LGBTQ-friendly place…at all. Believe it or not, they’ve recently taken another step towards being even less inclusive!
China has banned “abnormal content” from the Internet and, you guessed it, China includes homosexuality on its list of “abnormal sexual behaviors.” Cue the unanimous disappointed sigh.
Content that includes sexual obscenity, promotes “luxurious lifestyles” or showcases homosexual behavior will be banned. While it’s no surprise that China, a country notorious for censorship, is limiting even more content from its citizens, it still comes as a huge hit to the LGBTQ community. The Internet has long been a place where members of the LGBTQ community could seek solace and connect with other members of the community that they might not otherwise be able to do in person.
“Weibo Corp, the operator of China’s top microblogging site, said this week it would block unapproved video content and work more closely with state media to promote ‘mainstream’ ideas, following a sharp rebuke from regulators,” according to Reuters.
‘Authorities also ordered Internet companies this month to close 60 celebrity gossip social media accounts to help ‘actively propagate core socialist values’ and prop up ‘mainstream public opinion.'”
In 2016, the Chinese government banned all representations of LGBT people on TV, stating that “No television drama shall show abnormal sexual relationships and behaviours, such as incest, same-sex relationships, sexual perversion, sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual violence, and so on.”
