This article is about LGBT rights in the People's Republic of China (PRC). For LGBT rights in the Republic of China (ROC), see LGBT rights in Taiwan.
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LGBT rights in the People's Republic of China
Territory controlled by the People's Republic of China shown in dark green; territory claimed but not controlled shown in light green
Status
Legal since 1997. Since then, the offense of “hooliganism” has been removed from Chinese penal codes.
[1]
Gender identity
Transgender people allowed to change legal gender after sex reassignment surgery.
Military
Not prohibited by law
Family rights
Recognition of relationships
Limited cohabitation rights
Adoption
No
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the People's Republic of China (PRC) face legal and social challenges that are not experienced by non-LGBT residents. While both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal, same-sex couples are currently unable to marry or adopt, and households headed by such couples are ineligible for the same legal protections available to heterosexual couples. No explicit anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people are present in its legal system, nor do hate crime laws cover sexual orientation or gender identity.
Homosexuality and homoeroticism in China have been documented since ancient times. According to certain studies by Fo Guang University, which is based in Taiwan, and peer reviewed in a journal published by the University of London, homosexuality was regarded as a normal facet of life in China, prior to Western influence from 1840 onwards.[2][3] Several early Chinese emperors are speculated to have had homosexual relationships accompanied by heterosexual ones.[4] Opposition to homosexuality, according to these same studies, did not become firmly established in China until the 19th and 20th centuries, through the Westernization efforts of the late Qing dynasty and the early Chinese Republic.[5]
However, others debate that since as early as the 17th century, the Manchu–ruled Qing courts began to use the term jījiān (雞姦) for homosexual anal intercourse. In 1740, an anti-homosexual decree was promulgated, defining voluntarily homosexual intercourse between adults as illegal. Though there were no records on the effectiveness of this decree, it was the first time homosexuality had been subject to legal proscription in China. The punishment allegedly included a month in prison and 80 heavy blows with heavy bamboo.[6] Homosexuality was largely invisible during Maoist China (1949–1976).[7] In the 1980s, the subject of homosexuality reemerged in the public domain and gay identities and communities have expanded in the public eye since then. However, the studies note that public discourse in China appears uninterested and, at best, ambivalent about homosexuality, and traditional sentiments on family obligations and discrimination remains a significant factor deterring same-sex attracted people from coming out.[7]
Today, the government's approach to LGBT rights has been described as "ambivalent", "fickle", and as being "no approval; no disapproval; no promotion".[8][9] There is much resistance from conservative elements of the government, as various LGBT events have been banned in recent years.[9] Since the late 2010s, authorities have avoided showing homosexual relationships on public television, as well as showing effeminate men in general.[10][11]
^Cite error: The named reference ILGA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Passions of the Cut Sleeve: The Male Homosexual Tradition in China by Bret Hinsch; Review by: Frank Dikötter. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 55, No. 1(1992), Cambridge University Press, p. 170
^Hinsch, Bret. (1990). Passions of the Cut Sleeve. University of California Press. p. 56
^Hinsch, Bret. (1990). Passions of the Cut Sleeve. University of California Press. pp. 35–36.
^Kang, Wenqing. Obsession: male same-sex relations in China, 1900-1950, Hong Kong University Press. Page 3
^"History of Homosexuality". china.org.cn. Shanghai Star. Archived from the original on November 19, 2003. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
^ abJeffreys, Elaine; Yu, Haiqing (2015). Sex in China. Polity. ISBN 978-0-7456-5613-7.
^"Chinese attitudes towards gay rights". The Economist. June 6, 2017. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
^ abSi Chen (1 June 2018). "China's Complicated LGBT Movement". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on June 30, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
^"China bans depictions of gay people on television". the Guardian. 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
^"China prohíbe los "hombres afeminados" en la televisión". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 2021-09-03. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
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