COVID-19 Is Further Disenfranchising China’s Queer Youth

[reader]

From The Diplomat

In January of 2020, Fang Tianyu, an employee of a state-owned company in China, moved home to the city of Chengdu because of COVID-19. Fang’s family had made it a point not to speak about her love life since she came out as lesbian two years prior, but quarantine at home changed that. “Since being in quarantine, my dad has had very serious quarrels with me almost every day about my girlfriend or marriage,” she told the authors. As a result of these arguments, Fang broke up with her girlfriend to search for a male partner.

“If the pandemic had never happened and we hadn’t broken up, we would be celebrating our three year anniversary,” Fang said at the end of our interview.

During quarantine, many people have experienced increased familial tension. However, Fang’s story depicts the unique pressure that members of the LGBTQ+ community have faced in returning home.  In an August study, researchers noted that depression rates among British LGBTQ+ people have skyrocketed during quarantine. Not only that, but one in six respondents experienced an increase in homophobia and transphobia. This number doubled if said respondents were closeted.

Homosexuality was decriminalized in China in 1997, but gay marriage remains illegal. The picture on trans and other queer rights is mixed. Censorship of LGBTQ+ themes in entertainment is common — but just last month an employee of an e-commerce firm successfully won a case against her employer who had discriminated against her on the basis of sex, specifically for being transgender. However, China is not a common law nation. Technically courts are not meant to interpret law and court precedent does not equal law, although the mechanics of this are vague. Because there are no clear protections against homophobia and transphobia in China’s employment protection legislation, the actual status of trans rights is still unclear, despite the court win.

During COVID-19, existing problems have been compounded. The stigmatization of homosexuality in China has made it difficult for individuals living with HIV and AIDS to receive basic medical care.

A recent report in the Southern Urban Daily describes one such situation.  Shan is a homosexual man living with AIDS who had managed to keep his diagnosis a secret from his family. When Shan returned home for quarantine, he only brought medicine sufficient for a one-week stay and soon realized it wouldn’t be enough. “Hopeless, helpless, and waiting for death,” he responded when asked by Southern Urban Daily reporters to describe his situation. “Every route out of the village was locked, and the only place I could try my luck was at the clinic in the rural marketplace.” As dire as his circumstance was, he was still reluctant to speak about his situation with local doctors. He worried that even if he did, they still might not understand what type of medication he needed.

In 2015, 82 percent of new HIV infections in adults age 18 to 24 occurred among what scientists call the “men having sex with men” (MSM) population. Statistics like this fuel the overwhelming social stigmatization of HIV as a “gay” disease. High new infection rates amongst the gay community combined with the perception that only gay people are affected by the disease make it difficult for people like Shan to be open about their diagnosis.

A Family Struggle

The first wave of COVID-19 in China coincided with the country’s largest annual holiday — the Lunar New Year — which added additional strain to an already precarious situation. Many young people returned home for the holidays and subsequently found themselves stranded away from urban centers when quarantine clamped down. This opened up many young people to be subjected to the tradition of xiangqin (相亲), in which parents arrange for their children to meet suitable marriage partners. Xiangqin creates a uniquely difficult pressure for LGBTQ+ youth, who must navigate either conforming to or resisting their parents’ expectation that they be in a heterosexual relationship.

During COVID-19, existing problems have been compounded. The stigmatization of homosexuality in China has made it difficult for individuals living with HIV and AIDS to receive basic medical care.

A recent report in the Southern Urban Daily describes one such situation.  Shan is a homosexual man living with AIDS who had managed to keep his diagnosis a secret from his family. When Shan returned home for quarantine, he only brought medicine sufficient for a one-week stay and soon realized it wouldn’t be enough. “Hopeless, helpless, and waiting for death,” he responded when asked by Southern Urban Daily reporters to describe his situation. “Every route out of the village was locked, and the only place I could try my luck was at the clinic in the rural marketplace.” As dire as his circumstance was, he was still reluctant to speak about his situation with local doctors. He worried that even if he did, they still might not understand what type of medication he needed.

In 2015, 82 percent of new HIV infections in adults age 18 to 24 occurred among what scientists call the “men having sex with men” (MSM) population. Statistics like this fuel the overwhelming social stigmatization of HIV as a “gay” disease. High new infection rates amongst the gay community combined with the perception that only gay people are affected by the disease make it difficult for people like Shan to be open about their diagnosis.

The first wave of COVID-19 in China coincided with the country’s largest annual holiday — the Lunar New Year — which added additional strain to an already precarious situation. Many young people returned home for the holidays and subsequently found themselves stranded away from urban centers when quarantine clamped down. This opened up many young people to be subjected to the tradition of xiangqin (相亲), in which parents arrange for their children to meet suitable marriage partners. Xiangqin creates a uniquely difficult pressure for LGBTQ+ youth, who must navigate either conforming to or resisting their parents’ expectation that they be in a heterosexual relationship.

Continues at

https://thediplomat.com/2020/09/covid-19-is-further-disenfranchising-chinas-queer-youth/

[williewillie]

Interesting article.  Statistically China with a population over one billion people would have about 50 million gay

people, assuming 5% is accurate estimation.  With many more males than females, there are probably lots of

sexually repressed young men and women.  With mostly one child families, pressure must be intense..

[PeterRS]

If the Beijing rulers merely did a lot more to remove the stigma of homosexuality they could solve this problem at a stroke. 

[Guest]

19 hours ago, PeterRS said:

If the Beijing rulers merely did a lot more to remove the stigma of homosexuality they could solve this problem at a stroke. 

I've long had the same opinion.   If you're stuck with a heavy male-female population imbalance, it makes sense to promote tolerance of gay lifestyles.