Beijing LGBT Center
北京同志中心
FormationFebruary 14, 2008 (2008-02-14)[1]
DissolvedMay 15, 2023 (2023-05-15)
PurposeLGBT rights, research, and mental health support
HeadquartersBeijing, China
Coordinates39°54′21.1″N 116°28′19.6″E / 39.905861°N 116.472111°E / 39.905861; 116.472111
Servicesadvocacy, service referrals, crisis hotlines
Executive director
Xin Ying[2]
Websitewww.bjlgbtcenter.org.cn

The Beijing LGBT Center (Chinese: 北京同志中心; also known as 北同文化) was a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the living environment for LGBT people in China. The group was founded in 2008, and until its closure in 2023, provided resources such as low-cost mental health counseling, a directory of LGBTQ-friendly healthcare providers, and a crisis hotline for transgender individuals.[3][4][5] In addition to its advocacy work, the center also had physical offices that acted as a community meeting space with film screenings and discussion groups.[6]

History

The Beijing LGBT Center was founded in 2008 as a cultural outlet for various LGBT service organizations based in Beijing. In its early days, its primary mission was to organize cultural activities, aiming to address a perceived lack of stability and unity within the local LGBT community.[6] Following the departure of its original sponsors, the center hired new staff and transitioned into an independent organization with a renewed focus on advocating for LGBT rights.[7]

A small library collection at the center, featuring a protest sign from 2014 with the message "homosexuality does not need to be treated" (同性恋不需要被治疗).[8]

One of the center's first advocacy initiatives involved educating psychologists in China about conversion therapy.[7] In 2014, the center helped Yang Teng, a gay man, prepare a case against a clinic in Chongqing that had provided him with conversion therapy that included electroshock therapy. The case was successful, and a local court in Beijing eventually declared conversion therapy for "curing" gay people to be illegal altogether.[9][10] Still, the practice of conversion therapy persisted in China. Center employee John Shen and others later went undercover for a 2015 episode of Channel 4's Unreported World, revealing that hospitals continued to provide electroconvulsive conversion therapy.[11][12]

The center's research efforts included the administration of the Chinese Gender and Sexual Minorities Psychological Health Survey and a 2017 survey with Peking University on the mental health of transgender Chinese people.[13][14] Other forms of activism organized by the center were meant to replace pride parades, which were frequently forbidden by authorities.[7] One example was a protest of Weibo's planned ban on gay content, in which volunteers wearing blindfolds and t-shirts reading "I am gay" stood with their arms out and solicited hugs from passersby.[15][7][16] The center also partnered with photographer Teo Butturini to create Humans of New York-style portraits of LGBT individuals living in China.[17]

Crackdown and closure

The Beijing LGBT Center had faced ongoing challenges to stay open, with obstacles arising from both funding limitations and political pressure. LGBTQ groups cannot register as non-governmental organizations in China, making it difficult to obtain government approval for events and secure external funding.[7][5] To overcome its financial hurdles, the center organized fundraising events at local bars and received direct financial support from the Los Angeles LGBT Center.[6] Amidst a crackdown on organizations with names containing "homosexuality", "association", and "rights", the center changed its official Chinese name to the portmanteau "北同文化" (lit. 'Beijing homo-culture') in 2021.[18][19] The center also faced pressure from its landlords and was forced to relocate multiple times.[20]

In May 2023, the Beijing LGBT Center announced on its Weibo account that it will be suspending operations after 15 years, citing "forces beyond control" as the only reason.[21][22] This closure was unexpected and came only a week after the center had published an article commemorating its 15 years of dedicated work.[5] ShanghaiPRIDE, one of China’s longest running gay pride groups, and university LGBT spaces across China have faced similar abrupt shutdowns since 2020.[23][24]

See also

Reference

  1. ↑ "发展历程" [development path]. Beijing LGBT Center (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2021-03-20.
  2. ↑ Pamela Boykoff, Shen Lu and Serena Dong (October 2015). "Gay subway proposal an Internet hit in China". CNN. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
  3. ↑ "Tsai Center Facilitates Collaborative Research on LGBT-Affirmative Therapy in China". law.yale.edu. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  4. ↑ "National transgender hotline launched in China". China Development Brief. Retrieved 2019-06-15.
  5. 1 2 3 Wu, Huizhong (2023-05-16). "Beijing LGBT Center shuttered as crackdown grows in China". AP News. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  6. 1 2 3 "The Beijing LGBT Center". China Development Brief. 2011-10-07. Archived from the original on 2023-05-15. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Stroude, Will (2020-01-13). "'Being LGBTQ in China is difficult - but more and more young people are bravely coming out'". Attitude. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  8. ↑ "Man wins lawsuit in China over forced gay conversion therapy". AP NEWS. 2021-05-01. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  9. ↑ Qian, Jinghua (19 May 2016). "LGBT Mental Health: Closet Prejudice Remains". Sixth Tone. Retrieved 2019-06-15.
  10. ↑ "Chinese transgender man fights for job equality". AP News. 2016-05-30. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  11. ↑ Casparis, Lena de (2015-10-08). "Why We All Need To Watch Unreported World: China's Gay Shock Therapy". ELLE. Retrieved 2019-06-15.
  12. ↑ Graham-Harrison, Emma; Connaire, Shaunagh (2015-10-08). "Chinese hospitals still offering gay 'cure' therapy, film reveals". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-06-15.
  13. ↑ Zhang, Phoebe (2021-06-25). "China's LGBT community at higher risk of depression and suicide, report finds". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 2021-07-07. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  14. ↑ "China's transgender people deprived of vital medical care, Amnesty says". South China Morning Post. 2019-05-10. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  15. ↑ "LGBT activists ask strangers for hugs in China protest at Weibo censorship – PinkNews · PinkNews". www.pinknews.co.uk. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  16. ↑ "China's LGBT community treads cautiously amid intolerance". Reuters. 2018-05-21. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  17. ↑ Dickerman, Kenneth (10 October 2016). "Poignant portraits show what it's like being LGBT in China". Washington Post. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  18. ↑ 二兩. "為了活下去，中國LGBTQ組織改名、商業化、接軌主流價值觀". Initium Media (in Traditional Chinese). Archived from the original on 2021-11-13. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  19. ↑ Yuan, Shawn. "LGBTQ in China lament 'dark day' after social media crackdown". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  20. ↑ Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (2013-10-11). "China: Situation and treatment of sexual minorities, particularly in Guangdong and Fujian; state protection and support services (2011-February 2013)". Refworld. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  21. ↑ "Chinese LGBTQ Center Closes Down Abruptly Amid Xi Clampdown". Bloomberg News. 2023-05-16. Archived from the original on 2023-05-16. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  22. ↑ "各位亲爱的伙伴... - @北同官微的微博". 微博 (in Simplified Chinese). 2023-05-15. Archived from the original on 2023-05-15. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  23. ↑ Goh, Brenda; Tham, Engen (2020-08-14). "Chinese LGBT group ShanghaiPRIDE halts work to 'protect safety'". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  24. ↑ Gan, Nectar; Xiong, Yong (2021-07-07). "WeChat deletes dozens of university LGBT accounts in China". CNN Business. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
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