Life in China....
Chinese Police Shut Down Gay Pageant
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/16/world/asia/16beijing.html
BEIJING -- The contestants were prepping backstage and the judges
were settling in, but the first Mr. Gay China pageant was not
meant to be. An hour before the show was set to begin on Friday
night, eight police officers strolled into Lan Club and shut
down the event, saying organizers lacked the necessary permits.
'We're disappointed to say the least,' said Ryan Dutcher, an
American who was one of the planners.
The cancellation of the pageant, billed as a first for China's
fledgling gay community, underscored the many challenges faced
by those who push boundaries in a country ruled by a
conservative authoritarian government.
Although gay life in China has blossomed in recent years, there
are still a litany of obstacles. Gay dating Web sites are
blocked, and even if lesbians and gay men can gather without
fear of arrest, they rarely come out to their families and co-workers.
For gay rights advocates, the boundary between the permissible
and the forbidden is always shifting. In 1997, China
decriminalized gay sex. In 2001, homosexuality was removed from
the official list of psychological disorders. During China?s
first Gay Pride last summer, the police in Shanghai forced the
cancellation of several events yet allowed others to take place.
Ben Zhang, the mastermind behind the pageant, said he knew there
was a risk in staging it without official permission. But he
also knew that requesting government approval would doom the
event. He avoided publicizing it in the Chinese press and did
almost no advertising.
But Xinhua and Global Times, two state-run news organizations,
ran articles about the contest. Tickets quickly sold out.
Mr. Zhang crossed his fingers.
There were eight men competing for the Mr. Gay China title. The
winner would have been the first Chinese entrant in the
Worldwide Mr. Gay competition to be held next month in Oslo,
Norway.
After the police had left and the drag performers changed back
into their street clothes, Mr. Dutcher and the other organizers
pulled down the 'Mr. Gay China' banners as workers stacked the
chairs.
Mr. Zhang had already left in despair, but Mr. Dutcher tried to
put on a brave face. Even if the contestants had been prevented
from strutting the catwalk, the judges, he said, would find a
way to send a winner to Oslo. 'I wouldn't say it's a huge step
backwards for the gay community', he said, 'but I guess it's not
a step forward either.'
