Olympics offers China rare glimpse of LGBTQ representation

Katherine Li
·2 min read
7

Insights from Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, Time Magazine, The Washington Post, Nikkei Asia, and Reuters

The News

For a Chinese audience, the Paris Olympics opening ceremony Friday offered a rare glimpse of LGBTQ representation — and a chance to air grievances against state media censorship.

Broadcasters for CCTV appeared too stunned to speak during a drag performance and another involving men kissing. Afterward, the topics “CCTV is silent” and “drag queens” trended on Chinese social media platform Weibo for a full day alongside video clips of the live broadcast from Paris.

Some users lamented missing the broadcast, which aired during the night in China, while others praised the Olympics for the display of diversity. “It was a beautiful night to stay up for,” wrote one Weibo user.


SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

The Chinese government views LGBTQ rights as a Western idea

Sources: Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, Time Magazine, Nikkei Asia

After fumbling the broadcast, Chinese social media users mocked CCTV as becoming “Westernized” as a play on the government’s stance that LGBTQ rights are a Western idea that threaten Chinese values. The phrase, however, has been used by Chinese people online to evade censorship and deride the authorities’ draconian stance. The government has curbed college-run LGBTQ clubs, shut down social media accounts, and waged an online war against “effeminate men,” and essentially excluded LGBTQ people from public life. “Despite more restrictions on LGBT+ advocacy in China, the community has shown resilience,” Yuhsuan Chien, a China Dissent Monitor analyst, told Nikkei Aasia earlier this year, noting that government pressure has made online advocacy more common.

Taiwan’s embrace of diversity amplifies contrast with China

Sources: The Washington Post, Nikkei Asia, Reuters

Across the strait in Taiwan, same-sex marriage is permitted (China does not allow it), as are Pride parades, LGBTQ films, and drag performances. Earlier this year, former president Tsai Ing-wen even invited an award winning Taiwanese drag queen to perform at the Presidential Office Building. Taiwan’s progress in LGBTQ rights in the generally conservative East Asia — it was the first Asian territory to legalize same-sex marriage in 2019 — has helped it forge a distinct national identity, and distinguish itself from China, The Washington Post wrote. Support for the LGBTQ community has also become an important aspect of young Taiwanese people’s sense of national identity, Nikkei Asia reported.