Members of China's LGBT community say moments like the recent cancellation of the country's largest LGBT festival are demoralising and highlights an irony where they are accepted in theory but in practice are not.
Homosexuality was officially declassified as a mental disorder in China in 2001 and is no longer considered illegal, but there remain significant obstacles for China's LGBT community.
He said traditional family ideals and a lack of civic space created a difficult environment for China's LGBT community. After the 2008 Olympics, however, the Chinese Communist Party sought to regain some of that control, with policy changes such as the Foreign NGO Law giving the government more discretion in allowing civil society organisations to grow.
"I wanted to experience little things like holding hands in public, because I can't do that in China." Blair said moments like the shutdown of Shanghai Pride were a constant source of frustration, demonstrating a cruel irony where in theory he was accepted, but in practice he was not. A recent survey conducted by the China Family Planning Association, Tsinghua University and China Youth Network involving more than 50,000 Chinese university students found that only 15 per cent said they were 'very satisfied' with their experience of sexual education in high school.
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