‘Western infiltration’ or social progress? LGBT rights caught in US-China crossfire

On 22 October, Chinese host and dancer Jin Xing sparked an online uproar with a lengthy post on Weibo charging that her performance application was rejected, naming the director of the approval department of Guangzhou’s Municipal Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau and calling on them to “not misuse public power”.

However, the focus of the controversy quickly shifted from “Jin Xing takes on the Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau” to “Jin Xing supports LGBT (sexual minority groups)”, drawing the sensitive LGBT topic back into Chinese public discourse.

In her post, Jin began by giving the full name of the director of the approval department and said that her plan to stage an adaptation of well-known Chinese playwright Cao Yu’s work Sunrise at the Guangzhou Opera House in December — in which she would direct and act — was rejected by the director.

Jin Xing wrote, “Due to your personal reasons, you rejected our performance application. Please provide the real reason for the rejection, and present a red-letterhead document from a higher authority, otherwise, do not misuse public power,” urging the director for a response.

As of the time of writing, the bureau has not provided an official response. However, when interviewed on 23 October, a staff member said, “The approval process is not something that can be decided by a single leader, and it is impossible for a performance application to be rejected for ‘personal reasons’,” adding that “any application with complete and qualified materials can be approved”, suggesting that the material submitted by Jin’s team might have been incomplete.

While the approval issue remains unresolved, netizens were quick to raise a more controversial topic. They speculated that the reason Guangzhou officials did not approve the performance could be due to Jin’s public display of a rainbow flag, a symbol of support for LGBT rights, during her curtain call for a performance in Shanxi earlier this year. By the afternoon of 23 October, “Jin Xing’s Guangzhou performance rejected” was trending on Weibo.

Jin, now 57, was once a male dancer. At the age of 28, she underwent gender reassignment surgery, becoming one of China’s legendary transgender figures.

An online video shows that during a performance of Sunrise in Taiyuan in January this year, Jin walked to the front of the stage during the curtain call and took a rainbow flag from a man, and showed the audience the words on it: “Love is love and love has nothing to do with gender.” She then tossed the rainbow flag behind her and continued to lead the other performers in the curtain call.

Jin was quick to respond to the discussion about the “rainbow flag”, emphasising that “my conscience is clear, and I own up to my actions”. She explained that during the performance, an audience member with the flag ran to the front of the stage and caused a commotion. To calm the audience down, she grabbed the flag from the person.

However, her response failed to convince netizens, who felt her explanation was a reach. Some accused her of quibbling, and pointed to a video from last year where she supported the US consulate’s LGBT film festival, and suggested that her remarks to the Guangzhou bureau “had a personal agenda” in advocating for LGBT rights.

On 1 June last year, the US consulate-general in Guangzhou announced on its official Weibo account that it would host a Pride Month film festival along with 14 other consulates in Guangzhou, and invited Jin to send her greetings for the festival, themed “Love is Love: LGBTQI+”.

In a two-minute video, Jin sent her well wishes for the film festival and shared her understanding of LGBT issues, calling for a more inclusive attitude towards the LGBT community.

When the video resurfaced, it quickly triggered a backlash from netizens. Many flocked to leave comments on Weibo posts, demanding an explanation from Jin.

Many other netizens felt this video from the US consulate is further evidence that LGBT rights are a Western ideological export and infiltration, and for Jin to openly record a congratulatory video for the US was evidence that she was “approved by the US Imperial Army” and declared that “promoting ideology in China is a dead end”.

Perhaps due to overwhelming public pressure, Jin subsequently deleted the Weibo post in question and posted a new one on 23 October, stressing, “I am just being myself and I only represent myself. I will always be Jin Xing, regardless of gender.” 

On 24 October, she posted on Weibo again, saying, “Love your country, love your hometown, love your parents, love your children, love art, love life, love nature, love animals… We humans are embraced by endless love… Love is love, regardless of gender!”

The intense reaction from netizens is unsurprising, as LGBT issues in China are viewed as a monstrous threat from the West, as seen in the Chinese government’s recent stance and control over LGBT matters.

During the Spring Festival period in 2016, a relatively well-received youth web drama Addicted (《上瘾》) premiered in China. The series tells the love story between two high school students that transcends gender and amassed over 100 million views in less than a month.

But this popular gay web drama was quickly shut down by the authorities, and removed from all online platforms.

In April 2018, Sina Weibo announced that it would be launching a three-month cleanup targeted at pornographic, violent or gay content. As a result, over 100 accounts were identified and shut down immediately for “serious violations”.

At that same time, an LGBT news platform Tongzhi Zhi Sheng (同志之声, the voice of LGBT), which had over 230,000 followers on Weibo, also stopped updating content.

In July 2021, LGBT WeChat accounts run by university students, such as Tsinghua University’s Purple, Peking University’s Colorsworld, Fudan University’s Zhihe Society (知和社), Renmin University’s Sex and Gender Research Society (性与性别研究社), South China Normal University’s Yuanren Society (圆人舍), Nanjing University’s The Same Sky (同一片天空), Wuhan University’s Gender and Sexual Orientation Equality Research Society (性别性向平等研究会) and Huazhong University of Science and Technology’s HGP group, were collectively shut down without warning.  

These accounts were largely focused on advocating for the rights of sexual minorities and gender equality, gender and sexual orientation equality and promoting sexuality education.

Undoubtedly, mainstream Chinese society holds a conservative view towards the LGBT community, and LGBT issues remain taboo in many situations in China.

At the same time, amid worsening rivalry between China and the West, LGBT is increasingly seen as an infiltration of Western ideology, which is an important reason why Jin, who is already a widely accepted transgender star, was attacked this time.

On the other hand, with the development of Chinese cities and the maturation of the younger generation, their values become more diverse and they are more focused on openness, freedom and self-expression. Their tolerance and understanding of LGBT issues differ significantly from those of older generations. This has created a relatively more tolerant space for the LGBT community, allowing them to gain more attention and support.

There were several scenes paying tribute to sexual minorities at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics in July, which sparked heated discussions on the Chinese internet. While many netizens called those scenes an “eyesore”, some netizens sighed, “So it is possible to live without hiding, or under the gaze of other people.”

When a scene involving three dancers hugging and kissing from the opening ceremony was broadcast, Chinese state media CCTV commentators fell silent. Their silence made it to Weibo’s list of top searches at one point, and a netizen said profoundly, “CCTV’s 22 seconds of silence was deafening.”

While the “rainbow flag” hoo-ha may have come to an end with Jin deleting her original post, the event clearly highlights the undeniable presence of the LGBT community struggling to survive in the cracks of Chinese society.

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “知名主持人金星倒在“彩虹旗”下？”.

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