this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2023
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[–] dokapuff@lemm.ee 17 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Can gay people get married in China?

[–] Tankiedesantski@hexbear.net 53 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Can gay people exist in America without their sexual identities being the subject of endless culture war bullshit?

I'm all for China legalizing gay marriage and full protections for LGBT people. That process requires Chinese society to have its own conversation, which is what's happening right now. Copy pasting American culture war bullshit verbatim isn't going to do gay people any good, and a gay character in a kids movie certainly isn't going to do jack shit.

[–] windowlicker@hexbear.net 48 points 1 year ago (1 children)

the newer generations in china have been leading the way in terms of a public opinion shift towards acceptance of LGBTQ people. on social media and in city centers you can find a lot of LGBTQ youth freely expressing themselves from what i've seen.

[–] kristina@hexbear.net 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

There are even laws against hate speech towards LGBT people in the Chinese national media. That will literally never happen in America

[–] dokapuff@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Then why change the movies? Why not just not release them if Chinese society isn't ready to have that conversation yet?

[–] axont@hexbear.net 33 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

They're having the conversation right now. Like there was a recent incident where LGBTQ stuff was banned off Weibo (Chinese social media) and there was a public outcry that reversed the decision. It's up to China to decide how they'll progress and I'm optimistic about it.

China's censorship laws are mostly designed for protectionist reasons, like they don't want their domestic film industry overrun by Disney or Sony. They'd rather have an internal market that's not bound to international businesses. That said, their censorship board is, for better or worse, operated by a bunch of stick in the mud boomers. Hopefully it'll get better with increasing awareness among younger people and changing trends. That said, the idea that China needs its government overthrown because it censors movies or that the state isn't as progressive as it could be? That's absurd and not helping anything.

I should also mention that homosexuality was mostly seen as normal or ignored throughout Chinese history up until the 19th century. It was a theme at the time that Britain or some other western power would start involving themselves within an Asian country and rewrite local laws, including restrictions on homosexuality.

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[–] GarbageShoot@hexbear.net 25 points 1 year ago

Most of the useful conversation to be had is not from the west demanding they just adopt western culture. I don't support censoring movies on homophobic grounds, but I think gay media produced and shown domestically (which absolutely does exist) is much more productive and important.

[–] Tankiedesantski@hexbear.net 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Because giving the impressing that LGBT issues are an imposition on Chinese society by the West in general and America specifically is going to distort the issue at best and at worst give the conservatives ammo to say that LGBT is an American plot to blah blah blah. Especially in the context of a Disney movie, aimed at kids, which adds in a "they're coming for our children" factor.

It would do incalculable damage to the advancement of LGBT rights in China for such rights to be tied to America or the West, so on balance the censors probably did the LGBT community a solid here.

Plus, that's assuming that this is the censors in China and not Disney self censoring because Disney thinks the Chinese censors care.

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[–] autismdragon@hexbear.net 37 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Nope! And thats bad. But marriage equality is not the only measure of queer rights. Queer people in China are largely left alone and not hate crimed and speaking as a queer I'd rather get to be alive than get married.

China absolutely needs to work on its legal rights for queer people. I'm not saying otherwise. But you are still looking at the issue through a very western lense, and a hypocritical one considering how recently queer rights have even been begun to be accepted in the west. And how fast we are moving backwards on them in America especially. And how bad issues like homeless queer youth still are.

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[–] GarbageShoot@hexbear.net 33 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Can a gay kid who is kicked out of their home find housing in the US?

[–] Draedron@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"What about the US" aka the mating call of the hexbear

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[–] yuri@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ooh, answering questions with a question! He’s good.

[–] ThereRisesARedStar@hexbear.net 31 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not being threatened with homelessmess would have helped me infinitely more than the right to be married.

[–] yuri@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

I’m gay and housing is just as hard to find for me as it is for my straight friends. Housing in the United States is prohibitively expensive, even/especially for renters depending on the area. This comparison was flawed to begin with, but that’s not surprising considering it’s the argumentative equivalent of a “no u”. Die on a better hill.

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[–] windowlicker@hexbear.net 33 points 1 year ago (3 children)

why is inclusion in an often patriarchal/misogynistic and conservative institution as marriage the end-all-be-all of queer rights? this is such an annoying talking point from liberals. i have heard american conservatives going on national stages and calling for the complete genocide of trans people, but i have not heard of anything like that from chinese politicians.

china has a long road ahead in terms of queer rights, but compared to queer rights (and "rights" like the right to get married, right to die in an imperialist war, etc) backsliding in the west, there's a pretty big difference.

[–] Tankiedesantski@hexbear.net 10 points 1 year ago

why is inclusion in an often patriarchal/misogynistic and conservative institution as marriage the end-all-be-all of queer rights?

Kind of reminds me of the space race and how the USSR had all these amazing achievements but America decided that the winner was the first one to land people on the moon.

[–] dokapuff@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I ain't no fucking lib. It's a simple standard of acceptance in society (i.e. gay people get to participate in the same governmental institutions as everyone else).

[–] BelieveRevolt@hexbear.net 27 points 1 year ago (2 children)
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[–] ThereRisesARedStar@hexbear.net 26 points 1 year ago (29 children)

As a transbian, fuck no it isnt, that is liberal bullshit. Marriage is a patriarchal institution.

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[–] kristina@hexbear.net 16 points 1 year ago

No it isn't lmao. I care more about housing rates among LGBT people, China and Cuba are high on that list.

Signed: yet another hexbear trans user. Weird how so many trans people on lemmy are hard left 🤔

[–] Maoo@hexbear.net 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I dunno you say a lot of lib things

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[–] AlpineSteakHouse@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

why is inclusion in an often patriarchal/misogynistic and conservative institution as marriage the end-all-be-all of queer rights?

Legal protections mostly. If you get married, you have a right to see your spouse in the hospital. Otherwise, they're just another person even if you've been living together for 50 years. You also have a right to inheritance, the right to receive pensions and 401k, etc etc. An unmarried partner is essentially left with nothing unless explicitly stated in a will and even then they don't have all the legal protections.

Imagine living with someone for 20 years and they get into a car wreck, you can't see them before they die because you're married. You get kicked out of your home because legally you're just a roommate and have no right to stay in that house. Then, all the money your partner invested goes to their shithead parents who kicked them out as a child. None of that would happen if you were married.

Marriage is an outdated contract but the functions it provides are still important to society.

Edit: Obviously I support China but marriage isn't just a "proof of love" or some other sentimental thing.

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