World
Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Europe and Asia
Marriage equality advances in Liechtenstein, Thailand
UNITED KINGDOM
BY ERIN REED | Following a recent decision in England by the National Health Service to stop prescribing puberty blockers for transgender youth, former U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss introduced a bill that would outlaw gender-affirming care for trans youth. The bill would also eliminate any recognition of social transition and would define sex to exclude trans individuals in the Equality Act. Currently, trans youth can still access gender-affirming care through private clinics. However, Truss’ bill ran into trouble on Friday when, instead of being debated, MPs spent hours deliberating over ferrets and pet names, exhausting the available time and preventing the bill from being heard.
As of this week, the National Health Service in England has declared that it will no longer permit trans youth to receive puberty blockers for gender dysphoria. Although the announcement sparked significant public backlash, its practical impact was somewhat mitigated by the extreme waitlist for care, which exceeds five years. Only a hundred trans youth had been prescribed blockers of the thousands waiting for an appointment. Importantly, the decision does not affect care through clinical research trials and does not affect private clinics — a route many parents had already pursued due to the surging wait times at the limited number of NHS clinics providing care.
Truss introduced a bill aimed at curbing that latter route of obtaining care. The proposed legislation would criminalize the prescription of gender-affirming care to trans youth. It seeks to prevent “the recognition of gender inconsistency in children,” which is defined as “referring to a child with language that is inconsistent with their sex” and “treating a child in a manner that is inconsistent with their sex.” However, the bill does not specify how boys and girls should be treated in accordance with the law. Additionally, it proposes amendments to the Equality Act to define sex to exclude trans individuals and end protections in bathrooms and other similar spaces.
See these lines from the bill here:
However, when the time arrived to debate bills, MPs diverted their attention to hours of discussions about ferrets and pet animal names within the context of an animal welfare bill. In one notable interaction, Labour MP Sarah Champion addressed Labour MP Maria Eagle, remarking humorously on the frequent mentions of ferrets:
Champion: “I am very interested in my honorable friend’s, well, key mention of ferrets at every opportunity in this debate. I’d like to put on record that my brother had a ferret called Oscar.”
(Laughter)
Eagle: “Well she has that now on the record. I don’t know really what else to say about that except that I’m sure that Oscar brought her brother great joy, and that’s what pets do, and I’m sure there are many other ferret owners who might attest to the same thing.”
You can watch the exchange here:
In another exchange, even some conservatives appeared to be in on it, such as MP Mark Spencer, who spoke at length listing off of many pets that had been named and put on the record.
Spencer: “I am confident that Members of all parties will agree that animals have been of great support to individuals and families, particularly during COVID-19, when my pets were certainly of great support to me. Pets often help to keep people sane when they are under pressure in their everyday pursuits, so it would be remiss of me not to put on the record the names of my three dogs, Tessa, Barney and Maisie, and the name of my cat, Parsnip. There has been a proud tradition this morning of mentioning various pets, including: Harry, George, Henry, Bruce, Snowy, Maisie, Scamp, Becky 1, Becky 2, Tiny, Tilly, Pippin, Kenneth, Roger, Poppy, Juno, Lucky, Lulu, Brooke, Lucy, Marcus and Toby, who are the dogs; and not forgetting Perdita, Nala, Colin, who is sadly no longer with us, Frank, two Smudges, Attlee, Orna, Hetty, Stanley, Mia Cat, Sue, Sulekha, Cassio, Othello, Clapton, Tigger, who is sadly no longer with us, and Pixie, who are the cats.”
The lengthy exchanges on pet names and ferrets ran the time out, and as such, the bill targeting trans people could not be heard. The lengthy discussion, which has since been referred to as a filibuster, echoes filibusters that have occurred in the U.S. to kill similar legislation, including recently in West Virginia on a bill that also would have defined sex in an identical way.
The exchanges provided a ray of hope for trans residents in England, which has been beset by anti-trans politics in recent years. Likewise, it was a sign that the Labour Party, which has previously been seen as “backsliding” on trans rights, has not completely abandoned its transgender constituents. Though the bill is not officially dead, it has been placed at the bottom of the priority list for March 22, meaning it almost certainly will not be debated, with government sources calling the bill “unworkable.”
For those who advocate for trans rights, however, the ferret has become “an overnight symbol of trans resistance” and a sign that anti-trans politics may be reaching their limit even in the U.K.
IRELAND
BY ROB SALERNO | The Irish people delivered a major rebuke to the political establishment by voting overwhelmingly against a pair of constitutional referendums that had been endorsed by all parties which would have amended language in the constitution that says a woman’s place is in the home, and that families are based on marriage.
The government had held the referendum on International Women’s Day, March 8, in a symbolic move, and turnout was measured at 44.4 percent. Results were announced the following day.
Ireland’s gay prime minister, Leo Varadkar, accepted defeat Saturday.
“It was our responsibility to convince the majority of people to vote ‘yes’ and we clearly failed to do so,” Varadkar said.
The first question, which was defeated 67 percent to 33 percent, asked voters to add the words “whether founded on marriage or on other durable relationships,” to the constitution’s definition of “family,” in order to be more inclusive of diverse family types.
The second question, which was defeated by a similar margin, as voters to delete a clause that says “the State recognizes that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved. The State shall, therefore, endeavor to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labor to the neglect of their duties in the home.”
Critics say the language promotes sexist gender stereotypes. The revised language would have used gender-neutral language to recognize “the provision of care, by members of a family to one another.”
Advocacy group LGBTQ Ireland had called for people to vote “yes” to both referendums, “so all children and families, including LGBTQ families, are recognized equally in the constitution.”
But a persuasive “no” campaign had arisen that alleged the revision would have struck women’s privileges and rights. Forces aligned against the referendum included some progressive and feminist groups that alleged the proposed language was unclear and lacked consultation.
Irish voters have in recent years approved a number of progressive reforms to their constitution, including streamlining the divorce process in 2019, legalizing abortion and decriminalizing blasphemy in 2018, and legalizing same-sex marriage in 2015.
LIECHTENSTEIN
BY ROB SALERNO | The tiny principality of Liechtenstein got one step closer to full equality for LGBTQ people as its parliament approved a bill to legalize same-sex marriage with a 24-1 vote, bringing a years-long process nearly to a close.
Local LGBTQ advocacy group FLAY expressed gratitude to members of Landtag, the Liechtenstein parliament, for advancing the law last week.
“Thank you for 24x ‘yes’ in the Landtag,” the group posted to its Facebook page.
“FLay the association for the queer community in Liechtenstein is very happy that 24 out of 25 deputies in parliament voted in favor on today’s first reading. Keeping in mind the completely blocked situation only 3 years ago, the denial of our government for participating any public discussion, we can be more than proud and happy on our successful steps towards the legitimation of the civil marriage for all,” Stefan Marxer, a FLay board member told the Washington Blade in an email.
The marriage bill is expected to pass second reading before the summer parliamentary break, and come into effect by Jan. 1, 2025, unless a referendum is called on the issue.
The tiny country of about 40,000 people, about the size of D.C., has made major progress on advancing LGBTQ rights in the last decade, though the International Gay and Lesbian Association-Europe ranked the country 38th among 49 European countries in its annual survey of LGBTQ rights on the continent last year.
Liechtenstein has allowed same-sex couples to form registered partnerships with limited rights since 2011. The registered partnership law was subject to a referendum after gay rights opponents collected more than 1,000 signatures demanding it. The law was approved by voters 69 percent to 31 percent.
A same-sex couple had sued the state seeking the right to marriage in 2017, but ultimately lost when the state court ruled that the ban on same-sex marriage was not unconstitutional. However, the court did find that the law banning same-sex couples from adopting was unconstitutional and ordered the country to amend the law. It eventually did so last year.
Discussion of marriage equality began in earnest in Liechtenstein after neighboring Switzerland passed its same-sex marriage law in its parliament in 2020.
One obstacle was the prince, who wields significant executive authority in Liechtenstein compared to other European monarchies. In 2021, Prince Hans-Adam II said that while he supported same-sex marriage, he would not support adoption rights. That obstacle seemed to disappear when the state court ordered the government to legalize full adoption rights. By 2022, Hans-Adam’s son Alois, who governs as regent, told a magazine that same-sex marriage was “not a problem.”
The Catholic Church had also intervened, with former Archbishop of Liechtenstein Wolfgang Haas leading a campaign against the bill and cancelling a traditional service at the opening of last year’s Parliament in protest. Haas retired last autumn.
Despite broad agreement among legislators, the same-sex marriage law has taken a slow path through Parliament. In November 2022, Parliament voted 23-2 asking the government to bring forward a same-sex marriage bill. The government held a three-month-long public consultation on same-sex marriage last year before putting the bill on the agenda for Parliament’s March 2024 meeting.
Under the marriage bill, the country will stop registering new partnerships, and people in partnerships will have the option of converting them to marriages or keeping them as they are. All other rights will be equalized.
Liechtenstein is the last German-speaking country to legalize same-sex marriage. Around the world, 37 countries have legalized same-sex marriage, including 21 countries in Europe. The most recent country to legalize same-sex marriage is Greece, and Thailand is expected to pass a same-sex marriage law later this year.
JAPAN
BY ROB SALERNO | Two courts ruled this past Thursday that Japan’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, increasing pressure on the government to legalize it.
District courts have been weighing same-sex marriage since several coordinated cases were filed across the country in 2019. Along with Thursday’s ruling from the Tokyo District Court, five district courts have ruled that the ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, while one court has upheld the ban. A seventh district court case was filed last month.
But on Thursday, the Sapporo High Court delivered the first ruling on same-sex marriage at the appellate level, and same-sex couples won there, too.
So far, all courts have dismissed claims for monetary compensation.
It’s likely that all of the cases will end up at the Supreme Court.
In a statement released after the ruling, the plaintiffs’ lawyers called on the government to act swiftly to protect their rights.
“I would like to reiterate that this shows that there is no time left for legal reform. The government should take seriously this judgment that found this provision to be unconstitutional … and promptly amend the law to allow marriage between same-sex couples,” the statement says.
Under Japan’s legal system, courts rarely invalidate or amend laws that are ruled unconstitutional, leaving that to the legislature.
But Japan’s national government has long been cold to LGBTQ rights. Last year, queer activists had hoped that the government would finally pass a long-demanded anti-discrimination bill, but by the time it was put before the legislature, it had been watered down to a bill that only calls on the government to promote understanding of LGBTQ people.
At the local level, queer activists have seen greater success. Twenty-nine of Japan’s 47 prefectures, as well as hundreds of municipalities, have enacted partnership registries for same-sex couples that at least afford some limited rights.
THAILAND
BY ROB SALERNO | Same-sex marriage could soon be a reality in the Southeast Asian country, as a bill to legalize cleared its first test in the legislature Thursday.
A committee set up by the House of Representatives to examine the bill approved it, setting it up for a final vote in the House on March 27. After that, it will need to be approved by the Senate, which is dominated by appointees of the former military junta that ruled the country until 2017. It is expected that the bill will pass into law by the end of the year.
The proposed bill gives same-sex couples equal rights to married heterosexual couples, including in inheritance, tax rights and adoption.
Same-sex marriage and LGBTQ rights generally have become a major political issue in Thailand in recent years, with queer people becoming increasingly visible and demanding greater equality.
Parties promising to legalize same-sex marriage and promote LGBTQ rights were the major victors of last year’s election, although the leading party was controversially disqualified from forming a government due to its support for reforming laws that penalize disparaging the monarchy, which was deemed unconstitutional. Nevertheless, the parties that formed government agreed to pass a same-sex marriage law, and last December, the house voted overwhelmingly to approve in principle a series of draft marriage bills.
The new government has also signaled that it will soon introduce a bill to facilitate legal gender change for trans people, and has begun a campaign to provide free HIV medication as an effort to eliminate HIV transmission by 2030.
Reporting by Erin Reed and Rob Salerno
Colombia
LGBTQ Venezuelans in Colombia uncertain about homeland’s future
US forces seized Nicolás Maduro and his wife on Jan. 3
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — LGBTQ Venezuelans who live in Colombia remain uncertain about their homeland’s future in the wake of now former-President Nicolás Maduro’s ouster.
José Guillén is from Mérida, a city in the Venezuelan Andes that is roughly 150 miles from the country’s border with Colombia. He founded an LGBTQ organization that largely focused on health care before he left Venezuela in 2015.
Guillén, whose mother is Colombian, spoke with the Washington Blade on Jan. 9 at a coffee shop in Bogotá, the Colombian capital. His husband, who left Venezuela in 2016, was with him.
“I would like to think that (Venezuela) will be a country working towards reconstruction in a democracy,” said Guillén, responding to the Blade’s question about what Venezuela will look like in five years.
American forces on Jan. 3 seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, at their home in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, during an overnight operation.
Maduro and Flores on Jan. 5 pleaded not guilty to federal drug charges in New York. The Venezuelan National Assembly the day before swore in Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president, as the country’s acting president.
Hugo Chávez died in 2013, and Maduro succeeded him as Venezuela’s president. Subsequent economic and political crises prompted millions of Venezuelans to leave the country.
The Blade in 2021 reported Venezuelan authorities raided HIV/AIDS service organizations, arrested their staffers, and confiscated donated medications for people with HIV/AIDS. Tamara Adrián, a member of the Venezuelan opposition who in 2015 became the first openly transgender person elected to the National Assembly, told the Blade she had to take security precautions during her campaign because government supporters targeted her.
The Blade on Jan. 8 spoke with a Venezuelan AIDS Healthcare Foundation client who said Maduro’s ouster “is truly something we’ve been waiting for for 26 or 27 years.” Another Venezuelan AHF client — a sex worker from Margarita Island in the Caribbean Sea who now lives in Bogotá — echoed this sentiment when she spoke with the Blade two days later.
“I love the situation of what’s happening,” she said during a telephone interview.
Sources in Caracas and elsewhere in Venezuela with whom the Blade spoke after Jan. 3 said armed pro-government groups known as “colectivos” were patrolling the streets. Reports indicate they set up checkpoints, stopped motorists, and searched their cell phones for evidence that they supported Maduro’s ouster.
“In the last few days, it seems there are possibilities for change, but people are also very afraid of the government’s reactions and what might happen,” Guillén said.
“Looking at it from an LGBT perspective, there has never been any recognition of the LGBT community in Venezuela,” he noted. “At some point, when Chávez came to power, we thought that many things could happen because it was a progressive government, but no.”
Luis Gómez is a lawyer from Valencia, a city in Venezuela’s Carabobo state. He and his family since he was a child have worked with autistic children through Fundación Yo Estoy Aquí, a foundation they created.
Gómez was in high school in 2013 when Maduro succeeded Chávez. He graduated from law school in 2018. Gómez in November 2020 fled to Colombia after he became increasingly afraid after his mother’s death that authorities would arrest him because of his criticism of the government.
The Colombian government in December 2025 recognized him as a refugee.
Gómez during a Jan. 9 interview in Bogotá discussed his initial reaction to Maduro’s ouster.
“I’m 28 years old, and 27 of those years have been in dictatorship,” Gómez told the Blade. “I had never experienced anything like this, which is why it had such a strong impact on me.”
Gómez said he initially thought the operation to seize Maduro and Flores was similar to an attempted coup that Chávez led in 1992. Gómez added he quickly realized Jan. 3 was different.
“The last thing we thought would happen was that Maduro would be wearing an orange jumpsuit in prison in New York,” he told the Blade. “It’s also important that those of us outside (of Venezuela) knew about it before those inside, because that’s the level of the lack of communication to which they have subjected all our families inside Venezuela.”
Gómez said Maduro’s ouster left him feeling “a great sense of justice” for his family and for the millions of Venezuelans who he maintains suffered under his government.
“Many Venezuelans, and with every reason, around the world started celebrating euphorically, but given our background and our understanding, we already knew at that moment what was coming,” added Gómez. “Now a new stage is beginning. What will this new stage be like? This has also generated uncertainty in us, which the entire citizenry is now experiencing.”
Trump ‘puts us in a very complex position’
U.S. chargé d’affaires Laura Dogu on Jan. 31 arrived in Caracas to reopen the American embassy that closed in February 2019.
Tens of thousands of people on Jan. 7 gathered in Bogotá and elsewhere in Colombia to protest against President Donald Trump after he threatened Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who was once a member of the now disbanded M-19 guerrilla movement. The two men met at the White House on Tuesday.
Both Gómez and Guillén pointed out Rodríguez remains in power. They also noted her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, is currently president of the National Assembly.
“Delcy has been a key figure in the regime for many years,” said Guillén. “In fact, she was one of the toughest people within the regime.”
Gómez and Guillén also spoke about Trump and his role in a post-Maduro Venezuela.
“Donald Trump, especially in this second term, has played a very particular role in the world, especially for those of us who, genuinely, not falsely or hypocritically, truly defend human rights,” said Gómez. “It puts us in a very complex position.”
Gómez told the Blade the operation to seize Maduro and Flores was “not an invasion for us.”
“It’s not a military intervention,” said Gómez. “It was the beginning, or I would even dare to say the end of the end.”
He acknowledged “there are interests at play, that the United States doesn’t do this for free.” Gómez added U.S. access to Venezuelan oil “for us, at this point, is not something that matters to us.”
“Venezuelans have received nothing, absolutely nothing from the resources generated by oil. We live without it,” he said. “The only ones getting rich from the oil are the top drug traffickers and criminals who remain in power.”
Guillén pointed out the U.S. “has always been one of the biggest buyers of oil from Venezuela, and perhaps we need that closeness to rebuild the country.”
“I also feel that there is a great opportunity with the millions of Venezuelans who left the country and who would like to be part of that reconstruction as well,” he said.
“Logically it’s sad to see the deterioration in the country, the institutions, even the universities in general,” added Guillén. “Those of us who are outside the country have continued to move forward and see other circumstances, and returning to the country with those ideas, with those new approaches, could provide an opportunity for change. That’s what I would like.”
Editor’s note: International News Editor Michael K. Lavers was on assignment in Colombia from Jan. 5-10.
More than 40 openly LGBTQ athletes are expected to compete in the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics that open on Friday.
Outsports.com notes eight Americans — including speedskater Conor McDermott-Mostowy and figure skater Amber Glenn — are among the 44 openly LGBTQ athletes who will compete in the games. The LGBTQ sports website also reports Ellis Lundholm, a mogul skier from Sweden, is the first openly transgender athlete to compete in any Winter Olympics.
“I’ve always been physically capable. That was never a question,” Glenn told Outsports.com. “It was always a mental and competence problem. It was internal battles for so long: when to lean into my strengths and when to work on my weaknesses, when to finally let myself portray the way I am off the ice on the ice. That really started when I came out publicly.”
McDermott-Mostowy is among the six athletes who have benefitted from the Out Athlete Fund, a group that has paid for their Olympics-related training and travel. The other beneficiaries are freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, speed skater Brittany Bowe, snowboarder Maddy Schaffrick, alpine skier Breezy Johnson, and Paralympic Nordic skier Jake Adicoff.
Out Athlete Fund and Pride House Los Angeles – West Hollywood on Friday will host a free watch party for the opening ceremony.
“When athletes feel seen and accepted, they’re free to focus on their performance, not on hiding who they are,” Haley Caruso, vice president of the Out Athlete Fund’s board of directors, told the Los Angeles Blade.
Four Italian LGBTQ advocacy groups — Arcigay, CIG Arcigay Milano, Milano Pride, and Pride Sport Milano — have organized the games’ Pride House that will be located at the MEET Digital Culture Center in Milan.
Pride House on its website notes it will “host a diverse calendar of events and activities curated by associations, activists, and cultural organizations that share the values of Pride” during the games. These include an opening ceremony party at which Checcoro, Milan’s first LGBTQ chorus, will perform.
ILGA World, which is partnering with Pride House, is the co-sponsor of a Feb. 21 event that will focus on LGBTQ-inclusion in sports. Valentina Petrillo, a trans Paralympian, is among those will participate in a discussion that Simone Alliva, a journalist who writes for the Italian newspaper Domani, will moderate.
“The event explores inclusivity in sport — including amateur levels — with a focus on transgender people, highlighting the role of civil society, lived experiences, and the voices of athletes,” says Milano Pride on its website.
The games will take place against the backdrop of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s decision to ban trans women from competing in women’s sporting events.
President Donald Trump last February issued an executive order that bans trans women and girls from female sports teams in the U.S. A group of Republican lawmakers in response to the directive demanded the International Olympics Committee ban trans athletes from women’s athletic competitions.
The IOC in 2021 adopted its “Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations” that includes the following provisions:
• 3.1 Eligibility criteria should be established and implemented fairly and in a manner that does not systematically exclude athletes from competition based upon their gender identity, physical appearance and/or sex variations.
• 3.2 Provided they meet eligibility criteria that are consistent with principle 4 (“Fairness”, athletes should be allowed to compete in the category that best aligns with their self-determined gender identity.
• 3.3 Criteria to determine disproportionate competitive advantage may, at times, require testing of an athlete’s performance and physical capacity. However, no athlete should be subject to targeted testing because of, or aimed at determining, their sex, gender identity and/or sex variations.
The 2034 Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place in Salt Lake City. The 2028 Summer Olympics will occur in Los Angeles.
China
Two Chinese men detained over AI-generated picture of pandas engaging in same-sex behavior
Arrests part of increased online surveillance, LGBTQ rights crackdown
Chinese authorities have detained two men after they shared an artificially altered image that linked queer identity with a specific city.
The Washington Post on Jan. 21 reported the men — who are 29 and 33 — circulated an AI-generated picture depicting pandas engaging in same-sex behavior in Chengdu, a major city in southwestern China often referred to as the “panda capital” due to its association with giant panda conservation. Local officials described the sharing of the image as “malicious,” and police in Chengdu took the men into custody.
Authorities also suspended the two men’s social media accounts, accusing them of spreading misinformation presented as legitimate news. According to the Post, the artificially generated image was posted alongside a fabricated headline, giving the appearance of an authentic news report. The image depicted two male pandas mating.
According to an official police report, police said the fabricated image was presented in the format of a legitimate news article and accompanied by a false headline. The caption read, “Chengdu: Two male Sichuan giant pandas successfully mate for the first time without human intervention,” authorities said.
Chinese regulators have in recent years tightened oversight of AI and online content.
Under the Interim Measures for the Administration of Generative Artificial Intelligence Services, issued in 2023, providers and users of generative AI systems are required to comply with existing laws, adhere to social and ethical standards, and refrain from producing or disseminating false or misleading information. Additional rules that took effect on Sept. 1, 2025, require online platforms to clearly label AI-generated content, a measure authorities have said is intended to curb misinformation and maintain order in digital spaces.
Police under Chinese law are permitted to impose administrative detention of up to 15 days for offenses deemed to disrupt public order, a category that includes the fabrication or dissemination of false information online. Such cases are handled outside the criminal court system and do not require formal prosecution.
According to a statement the Chengdu Public Security Bureau’s Chenghua branch released, police opened an investigation after receiving public reports that online accounts were spreading false information about the city. Authorities said officers collected evidence shortly afterward and placed the two individuals under administrative detention.
The detentions are not an isolated case.
The Washington Blade in July 2025 reported a Chinese female writer was arrested and subjected to a strip search after publishing gay erotic fiction online. At least 30 other writers — most of them women in their 20s — in the months that followed publicly described similar encounters with law enforcement, including home raids and questioning related to their online writing.
ShanghaiPRIDE, a Chinese LGBTQ advocacy group that organized annual Pride events in the city, has remained indefinitely suspended since 2021. In the same period, dozens of LGBTQ-focused accounts have been removed from WeChat, China’s largest social media platform, as authorities intensified oversight of online content related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Authorities in 2021 detained the founder of LGBT Rights Advocacy China. They later released them on the condition that he shut down the organization, which ceased operations shortly afterward.
China decriminalized homosexuality in 1997 when it removed consensual same-sex sexual relations from the country’s criminal code. The Chinese Society of Psychiatry in 2001 formally removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. Despite those changes, same-sex relationships remain unrecognized under Chinese law, and there are no legal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Public advocacy for LGBTQ rights remains tightly restricted, with authorities continuing to limit community organizing, public events and online expression related to sexual minority issues.
Within China’s LGBTQ community, transgender and gender non-conforming people remain among the most vulnerable. Under current regulations, access to gender-affirming surgery is subject to strict requirements, including being at least 18 years old, unmarried, obtaining parental consent and having no criminal record — procedures that are required in order to legally change one’s gender on official documents.
China’s system of online governance places responsibility on both users and platforms to prevent the spread of prohibited content. Social media companies are required to conduct real-name verification, monitor user activity and remove posts that violate regulations, while individuals can be punished for content authorities determine to have caused public misunderstanding or social disruption.
“Actually, at least three similar incidents have occurred in Chengdu recently, all involving netizens posting on social media linking Chengdu with homosexuality, resulting in legal repercussions. This isn’t just about giant pandas. I think the local police’s reaction was somewhat excessive,” said Renn Hao, a Chinese queer activist. “The content was actually praising Chengdu’s inclusivity, and there was no need to punish them with regulations like ‘maliciously spreading false information.’”
“This situation reflects the strict censorship of LGBT related content in the area,” they added. “This censorship makes LGBT-related content increasingly invisible, and people are even more afraid to post or mention it. This not only impacts the LGBTQ+ community in China but also hinders public understanding and awareness of this group.”
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