Police shut down Gay and Lesbian Culture Festival

Beijing police shut down a Gay and Lesbian Culture Festival, planned for December 16-18 at a former factory complex that has become an artists’ colony in the northeast of the city, and then ordered the closure of a bar to which a smaller gathering had retreated.

I don`t know what to say on this, just thinking that this is a part of Open and Reform results, telling us that china is changing or developing not only in economics, but also culture and other things like this.

Police began to put pressure on organisers several days before the festival, but took no drastic action, one of the organisers revealed to China Development Brief. According to regulations issued by China’s Ministry of Public Security in 1999, any cultural or sporting activity with more than 200 participants should obtain advance permission from the district Public Security Bureau.

The Festival was to have been the first of its kind in China. Films, plays, dance performances, exhibitions and seminars were planned, as well as an opening cocktail party. Some 200 people turned out for the opening events, including students, academics and journalists.

Police began to put pressure? why? Public security? I remember when i was in uni, i had planned a English corner with more than 200 people and had been stopped by the school office. I got no words on this!!

As of this, something else showed up in my mind, that is Sexual revolution in China, i don`t know if it is suitable to say "revolution", but it is serious,so many young people no matter from urban or rural areas, has been involved in this wave, and no one could belive or don`t want to believe it is true, and the sex education hasen`t been followed up, and when we realized,it is a bit late. According to my doctor friend, they have been doing huge number of abortion to the young students,and more seriousely, these kids dosen`t take medicine and rest after abortion, the reason is they have no money, have to go back to class, idon`t know what does this indicates?

On December 17, the Organising Committee widely circulated an open letter to report the situation. It stressed that “The Festival, as a purely civil, cultural activity, did not infringe any laws in China.”

“The action of the government reflects their political discrimination against homosexuality” said AIDS activist, Mr. Wan Yanhai. “It also indicates that some of them can’t accept homosexuality from a moral perspective.” Wan was one of five Organising Committee members, responsible for fundraising. Another member, Mr. Cui Zi’En, an artist and professor at the Beijing Film Academy, declined to comment.

Do we accept homosexuality? Everyone is thinking about this qustion i guess.But from my point of view, no need to think about it, the answer is obvious, things are already happend, you should need to accept it, that is all you can do. I remember chinese people like to say "every existence has its reason", isn`t it?

Moral issue? Leave them alone, they have thier moral and ettiquete, i only hope they know about it. As new things immerge out, moral and ettiquete has to follow up, like china i a Biggest Cellphone using country, think about it, how many people know cellphone etttiquete? how many people ever thought about cellphone morals? I don`t worry about things immerging like homosexuality, i am worried about our recognition and flexiblity, understanding and education is not following up.

Some of the planned activities, rescheduled to happen in the same bar on New Years Eve, had again to be abandoned after the Hong Kong newspaper Dagongbao made the date public.

In letters to Chinese President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao, the Ministry of Public Security and the State Council Committee on HIV/AIDS, Human Rights Watch and the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network complained that “in shutting down Beijing’s first-ever gay and lesbian cultural festival, the Chinese government violated basic freedoms and persecuted activists who are addressing the country’s burgeoning AIDS crisis.”

Funding for the Festival was provided by the Open Society Institute and the Monica Fund, both based in the United States.

I hope the letter could reach its intended hand.

A Festival website, www.bglcf.org, continues to operate.

Report by Tina Qian, January 6 2006

Ok, the website is there, hope you could consider this thing, but before you say anything please study about it!!