LGBTQ in China cries out for ‘dark day’ after dealing with social media | Management Issues

Chengdu, China – Last week unknowingly, WeChat, China’s most popular social networking site, completely suspended more than a dozen LGBTQ accounts for college, sparking a new controversy over previously threatened groups in the country.

The suspension affected student-led groups, including high schools such as Tsinghua and Peking universities. The ministries’ mission, in their concise statement, was “to promote gender equality and marginal rights.”

Several students who run LGBTQ accounts told Al Jazeera that they had never received any warnings from those involved in any of the suspensions.

Mary, a student who participated in one of the suspended groups, says that although there were “discussions” in the camp on setting up “groups that promote minority sexual rights” for the past few months, nothing has happened.

“It surprised me, but at the same time, not so much,” said Mary, who did not want to be named for security reasons. “We knew that the LGBT rights movement was facing obstacles in China, but we thought that since we were at university, we could survive anything.”

Like Mary, all of those who spoke to Al Jazeera did so anonymously because of their awareness of LGBTQ issues.

These accounts now have a “unspecified anonymous account,” with the same message displayed below – “all inquiries have been violated for violating the rules on ‘internet official account management information services.’ especially with regard to gender and LGBTQ rights, are lacking.

As in the past in China, any attempts to try this move have not been delayed. Some accounts have been suspended for listing accounts that have been deleted.

Neither the government nor Tencent, the parent company of WeChat, has commented on the suspension.

People in groups that survived the war told Al Jazeera that they were planning a disaster.

An employee of the popular LGBTQ team said they started producing all the publications that were published on their platform, currently more than 1,000. One went to Taobao, China’s e-commerce platform and paid someone to download all the articles, with themes ranging from life to promoting political freedom, on a number of accounts that he feared could be targets for other officials.

At the moment, only the availability of online groups has been disrupted but many groups are concerned that the authorities may be preparing to deal with class events and the activities of LGBTQ groups. People like Mary say they are working hard to make sure “some work is done according to time.”

“Today is a difficult day for us, and I don’t know if there is anything I can do but reach out to my friends and comfort them,” Kevin, a prostitute in Chengdu, told Al Jazeera after hearing the news.

The massacre of ordinary people on the internet has caused a stir in Chinese cinema.

Many expressed support for the groups, although they were concerned about interfering with government agencies.

“I have been working for the agency for many years and I have seen my friends being questioned, tested, forced to remove records, I will never forgive [country], “Said a man who worked for another team that was overseen.

Others expressed their concerns over all the monitoring systems.

“What I fear most about the site is that they can wipe it off and just cut their finger off,” wrote a writer in Douban, a Chinese social networking site. “Something to be a person, a group of people, an organization, or even a nation.”

Very important pride

China’s attitude toward the LGBTQ movement changes frequently. From time to time, the government has regulated homosexual acts with violence and obscenity, on television, and allowed literature to label homosexuals as insane. However, at the same time, the way governments treat local people is not always hostile and Beijing has left people alone.

Since 2009, Shanghai has been hosting the Pride Month, which usually takes place in June in many countries, with live video shows and interviews, albeit without any intermediate festivals. Last year, organizers were forced to suspend the festival due to COVID-19 ban.

But not everyone helps the community.

The cybercrime targeted student groups at universities including the famous Peking University [File: Roman Pilipey/EPA]

There are many who fully accept the demolition of the state. Some people with a strong following on Weibo are satisfied with, perhaps not happy with, the latest developments. “We are very happy that the government is taking action on LGBT organizations,” wrote Ziwuxiashi, a Weibo account with 500,000 followers. “Grief from [the supporters of the community] with our victory song! ”

Chinese freedom fighters have often expressed outright hostility toward homosexuality or homosexuality in what they say is “extremist behavior,” according to some anti-terrorists, including some self-proclaimed writers of science such as Vaccine and Science. of news and more than five million followers.

There is no official recognition of homosexuality but since people have become more open in recent years, anti-LGBT activists have changed their “traditional” views.

Examples of online and offline discussions clearly show that some ideas are enticing: suspicion that the LGBTQ group, especially in college, is the gateway to the so-called “foreign tyranny” that could disrupt the Chinese people and therefore needs to be carefully addressed.

“Fighting these groups is a good thing because these students have learned a lot of bad things from foreign countries and have been using them,” said a user at Weibo.

‘Go to the Way’

In recent years, the notion that feminism and LGBTQ equality are rooted in Western ideology and their presence in China to the detriment of people has been widely divided, with Beijing promoting the idea that their dissatisfaction with foreign affairs is increasing.

“Promoting equality is about bringing about racial change, promoting women’s rights and the struggle for independence in Hong Kong, and living in a LGBT community and earning money from [US President Joe] Biden, ”Wu, a Shanghai-based LGBTQ activist, told Al Jazeera, describing the charges against him. “To name the common people and politics, and to persecute them – that’s it [the government’s] way to go. ”

Since Xi Jinping became President in 2012, political power has grown exponentially and the Communist Party is heavily influenced by groups and organizations – from religion to culture and beyond – which can be dangerous.

Despite this, members of LGBTQ groups are optimistic. “Love and hope are not hard to take away,” he said [File: How Hwee Young/EPA]

A report on the LGBTIQ movement in China released this month by ILGA Asia, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, found “low visibility of LGBTIQ content on television and cybersecurity is under threat due to repressive restrictions. an oppressive government. ”

For example, on social networking sites, instead of being referred to as “married” or “boyfriend,” homosexuals are referred to as “sexual partners” so as not to deliberately show “sex”.

“This is [the government’s] The obvious way to include homosexuals in obscene jokes is to remove the LGBT group from their political rhetoric, ”wrote a WeChat user.

The future of the world’s most powerful human rights organization is uncertain. The ILGA states that while there are “evils” there are “opportunities” especially in a region of violence and discrimination and in the interests of freedom.

And in the largest LGBTQ community in the world, people are optimistic.

“There are a lot of things that can be taken away from us, but love and hope – it’s not hard to get rid of us,” said a member of the LGBTQ NGO in Wuhan.