20240220 AI China LGBTQ img

Despite Beijing's attempts to stifle LGBTQ advocacy, calls for fair treatment continue unabated in online, offline, group and solo events, according to China Dissent Monitor data. © Illustration by Hiroko Aida

China LGBTQ community hangs tough in dissent amid repression

Study shows new protest channels used to urge rights progress as authorities circle

HONG KONG -- In a scene like many played out in theaters around the world, last month a smiling dance performance director emerged from the wings after a show to thunderous applause, taking a bow with a rainbow flag bearing the slogan "Love is love, love and gender are unrelated."

But this scene was in China, and the director was Jin Xing, the country's best-known transgender celebrity. For international human rights watchers and censors alike, it symbolized the dozens of lower-profile acts of dissent that data show persist in the Chinese LGBTQ community despite rigid government restrictions.

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