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SCMP Reporters

1. What year was homosexuality decriminalized in China?
In 1997. Learn more

2. What does one artist say is the key to improving transgender rights?
Building acceptance through interaction. Learn more

3. What official document do transgender people have trouble receiving?
Graduation certificates. Learn more

4. What activity, illegal in China, are LGBT couples using to start a family?
Surrogacy. Learn more

5. What new laws have the LGBT community worried about their future?
A crackdown on non-official publishing platforms, which had become an important tool for communication. Learn more

6. What event was described as an "utopia" for the LGBT community?
A "rainbow cruise" to Vietnam. Learn more

7. What does the Chinese term tongzhi mean?
It is a word referring to lesbian, gay, transgender, queer and intersex people in China. Learn more

8. What major LGBT event was cancelled in 2020 in a blow to Chinese LGBT community
Shanghai Pride. Learn more

9. What "event" helped create a transgender icon in Tibet?
The region's most prestigious beauty pageant. Learn more

10. What kung fu movie broke LGBT barriers in Hong Kong?
Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan, published in 1972. Learn more

11. What is a contributing motivation for drag queens to perform?
They view performing in drag shows as a form of social defiance. Learn more

12. These terms are used at camps meant to "fix" LGBT teens
“psychological crisis intervention, military training, labour training, filial and gratitude education.” Learn more

13. In a survey, how many of 1,640 transgender respondents said they had not experienced domestic violence?
Six. Learn more

14. Young filmmaker Ran Yinxiao wanted to shed light on what hurdle facing LGBT families
Homosexual adoption. Learn more



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LGBTQ

14 things you may not know about LGBTQ in China

A transgender woman dances in Lianhuashan Park. Shenzhen. While China doesn’t recognise LGBTQ people, and restricts freedom of expression about LGBTQ people, same-sex couples find ways to gain legal protection, a global report notes. Photo: Emeric Fohlen/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Chan Ming-yan, 24, poses for a photo that will be included in the Transcendence Art Show. Photo: Handout

Xiao Fei needed the help of a lawyer in a lengthy battle to change her degree certificate. Photo: Tom Wang

Carson Lei and his children. His younger son was born to a surrogate mother in Thailand. Photo: Carson Lei

For LGBT communities in China that already feel marginalised, the new rules on internet publishing are even more concerning. Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto

More than 1,000 gay Chinese and their families joined the cruise from Shenzhen to Da Nang and back. Photo: PFLAG China

A gay couple kisses under a rainbow-coloured scarf during a party after a mass wedding organised by the Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) China organisation on a cruise in the open seas en route to Sasebo, Japan, on June 15, 2017. About 800 members of the Chinese LGBT community and their parents spent four days on a cruise trip organised by the NGO. Photo: EPA

Shanghai Pride has cancelled all future events. Photo: Weibo

Tibetan transgender and LGBT icon Tenzin Mariko has more than 30,000 followers on Instagram. Photo: Tenzin Mariko

Lily Ho Li-li (left) and Betty Pei Ti in a still from Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan, a 1972 production that was the first Hong Kong film to feature LGBT characters. Directed by Chor Yuen, it resembles European “art-porn” films of the era by the likes of Roger Vadim.

Illustration: Adolfo Arranz

Former dancer and now talk show host Jin Xing is one of the most famous and outspoken transgender figures in China.

An official promotional photo for “Forbidden Love in Heaven”. The movie challenges traditional views about the LGBT community in China. Photo: courtesy of Ran Yinxiao

News

People & Culture

Gender & Diversity

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LGBTQ in China

Explainers


LGBTQ issues are still a taboo topic in China, and the community faces harsh consequences like ostracization, unemployment and even jail. However, the LGBTQ community is also fighting to be seen and heard, and many LGBTQ people are living openly and loudly amid growing acceptance from society.



Human rights

China society

Identity