Are LGBTQ community safe in China

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the People’s Republic of China face serious challenges in the country. The LGBTQ support groups are also forced to close in the country.

The space for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people has become smaller. The Beijing LGBT Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to LGBT people in China, said on its official WeChat account on May 15 that it was closing because of “force majeure,” indirectly referring to being shut down by the Chinese authorities. 

Jinghua Qian, who worked as a journalist in China from 2016 to 2018, said that the closure of the  Beijing LGBT Center was “a huge loss for not only the LGBTIQ+ community in China but for the world.”

The LGBT center did not reveal the exact reason for its closure but cited unidentified external factors out of its control. 

Is homosexuality legal in China?

Homosexuality is legal in China. Homosexuality was decriminalized in 1997 in China. However, same-sex marriage and adoption are not allowed in the country. The country offers no protection to LGBT people. They are not legally protected against discrimination. They face harsh discrimination in the country because the LGBT community gets no recognition. 

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It is 2023, and same-sex marriage is not legal in China. According to reports, around 200 Chinese LGBTQ+ couples have been married in Utah, a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, since 2021. Utah County introduced weddings over Zoom, which attracted Chinese LGBT people. They got married online in Utah.

According to NBC News, LGBTQ people in China have claimed that their safe spaces are being squeezed under Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

Is there any safe space for LGBTQ people in China?

In recent years, major LGBTQ NGOs have been shut down in the country. Chengdu Milk LGBT Service Center, a non-profit organization that supported LGBT people’s freedom of speech, was shut down in 2019. Shanghai Pride, which offered support to the LGBTQ+ community, was shut down in 2020. It suspended all activities after 11 years of existence. LGBT Rights Advocacy China, an influential LGBT advocacy group in China, was shut down in 2021. 

LGBT Rights Advocacy China fought for same-sex marriage and workplace discrimination by helping people sue their employers. However, it ceased all activities and shut down its social media accounts.

LGBTQ people still need legal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Same-sex couples need the right to get married in China and adopt children.