Abstract
This article discusses how LGBT activists in China employ different ICTs for their causes and the challenges that they face. The discussion is based on a review of relevant studies and some preliminary results from an ethnographic study of an LGBT organization Shen Lan in Tianjian, a major port city in northeastern China. The study suggests that in a heavily regulated political environment, many civil rights organizations such as the Shen Lan group takes a non-confrontational approach in their online and offline advocacy work, demonstrating a type of activism with Chinese characteristics.
In many parts of the world, the wide availability of information and communication technologies (ICTs) makes it possible for ordinary citizens, especially those from marginalized communities to express themselves and advocate for different causes in a public space. In particular, social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have played a significant role in facilitating online activism, as illustrated by the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street movement. While many believe that the revolution can be Facebooked or Tweeted, other scholars have cautioned that the democratic promise of ICTs including social media can be constrained by factors such as the digital divide and the corporate/state surveillance. Furthermore, the potential of ICTs as a force for social change varies in different socio-cultural contexts and in different communities. This article focuses on one such marginalized community in China—Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT), or 同志“Tongzhi” in Chinese—and discusses how LGBT activists employ different ICTs for their advocacy work and on issues related to contestation and resistance in this area and the challenges that they face. The discussion is based on a review of relevant studies and some preliminary ethnographic data collected by the first author of this article.
China’s Internet regulation and online discourse about “Tongzhi”
In China, the Internet is heavily monitored and censored (King, Pan, & Roberts, 2013). Major Internet companies all closely work with the government and actively self-censor controversial news and expressions on their sites (MacKinnon, 2008). The Chinese government also recruits online users, known as the “50 cent party,” meaning people who post pro-government comments online. A recent study estimated that about 448 million social media comments per year were fabricated and posted in order to distract the public from discussing controversial issues (King, Pan, & Roberts, 2016). Still, the Chinese Internet is highly contentious. The dissemination of information and counter-information is sometimes more efficient than online censors can keep up with (Sullivan, 2014). In addition, young, tech-savvy Chinese citizens have used a number of creative strategies such as coded terms and spoofs to circumvent outright Internet censorship and discuss issues that challenge the status quo (e.g. Chen & Reese, 2015; Meng, 2011).
Like other marginalized identities, homosexuality has been a sensitive topic in modern China (see Cao & Lu, 2014 for a review of the historical legacy of Chinese attitudes toward homosexuality). Especially during the period of Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), homosexual behavior was considered a sign of capitalist condemnation and thus a severe political fault. The situation was worsened in the 1980s, when a large number of homosexual persons received penalties in the name of “hooliganism” (Yu, 2015). It was only in 1997 that homosexuality was decriminalized and in 2001 that it was removed from the list of mental illnesses.
In part due to the development of the Internet and the influence of the global LGBT movement, China’s LGBT movement emerged in the 1990s along with a more tolerant attitude from the government and society. Ironically, the spread of HIV/AIDS in China and subsequently the government’s interest in controlling it further contributed to the visibility of LGBT issues in the public discourse. In today’s Chinese society, however, stigma and discrimination against the LGBT community remains. Homosexual behavior is still considered immoral and promiscuous and gay men are often stereotypically associated with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The official attitude toward the LGBT community is best reflected by a recent government mandate: In March 2016, the Chinese government began to ban all depictions of LGBT people on television, as part of a cultural crackdown on “vulgar, immoral and unhealthy content” (Ellis-Petersen, 2016).
The Internet provides an alternative space for LGBT activists to promote their causes. For example, Kang and Yang (2009) found that blogs could empower gays and lesbians in China by allowing them to express their concerns and to challenge public stereotypes against LGBT persons. More recently, LGBT rights advocates such as Li Yinhe began to use Weibo, a Twitter-like social networking site, to spread the idea of same-sex marriage in China. However, while the discussion of LGBT issues is not banned online, it is only allowed to a limited extent. Chase’s (2012) research revealed that most LGBT websites or other online groups are primary targets of government control. Aibai, one of the most popular LGBT websites in the Chinese-language world, occasionally receives requests from the government departments to remove certain content because it is politically inappropriate. Others, such as editors of another popular LGBT portal site
More importantly, other scholars including authors of this article found that the relationship between LGBT activists and the Chinese government is not simply one of coercion but also of strategic collaboration. A theoretical perspective of political economy of communication provides a highly useful framework for examining this socio-technical phenomenon in China.
From LGBT rights to HIV/AIDS prevention
In China, natural and public health disasters can often create political opportunities for civil society organizations (Wilson, 2012). As mentioned above, the outbreak, spread, and the government’s response to HIV/AIDS is the most important factor that contributed to the emergence and the development of LGBT activism in the country. LGBT activists are granted political space as long as they help the government tackle the growing HIV/AIDS problems and serve high-risk groups (i.e. MSM, men who have sex with men) that the government is unable to reach.
The government’s need to address the HIV/AIDS problem has also brought financial benefits to these LGBT grassroots organizations. Most of these organizations began to provide HIV/AIDS-related services in order to receive state funding. Some receive monies directly from the government and most enjoy high levels of international funding from private donors, international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and foreign government aid agencies (Hildebrandt, 2012). For the latter, it usually employs a “filter model” whereby funds brought into China are directed first through the government agents, such as the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and then passed to community-based organizations. In either approach, it is clear that the government can decide who receives financial support and in that way, the state has significant influence over LGBT groups. In some places such as the southwestern province Yunnan, the local government also requires grassroots groups to register officially in order to receive foreign funding, enabling government officials more control over the development of groups dealing with political sensitive topics such as human rights and advocacy (Teets, 2015). Our own research supports this reading of the influence of political economy on LGBT organization’s online and offline activities. It is based on an ethnographic study of an LGBT organization
The Shen Lan working group in Tianjin was established in 2004 and is one of the most important “Tongzhi” grassroots organizations in China. It has started to provide psychological and health support, HIV/AIDS prevention and peer education for LGBT communities through its website, 1 listserv and chat room, among other features. Shen Lan also promotes the development of civil society through advocating healthy community culture and lifestyle, reducing the disease and eliminating the stigma and discrimination against LGBT communities. The Shen Lan working group has close relationships to the local office of Chinese CDC. One director of the AIDS office in the CDC moved his office to the residential community in order to establish closer working relations with the grassroots community. Gaga, the first leader of the Shen Lan working group, has adopted a flexible strategic approach in order to advance his work. He can locate target groups easily but he needs the protection afforded by cooperative initiatives with the CDC in HIV/AIDS Prevention and Caring, Testing and consulting; otherwise, his organization would be illegal. Our ethnographic investigations in Tianjin show that the Shen Lan working group has cared for more than 800 people living with HIV/AIDS and trained more than 400 volunteers. Recent interviews with Gaga in Tianjin, however, reveal major worries about the community’s future. First, foreign funding will soon be forbidden by the Chinese government. A second challenge is the rapid spread of a new drug, Rush (poper), also called the “number zero capsule,” is increasing infection rates by stimulating sexual promiscuity.
The political and economic constraints inevitably influenced Shen Lan’s online presence. Shen Lan mainly uses Tencent QQ group—a popular instant messaging software service that supports group chatting—to promote health-related knowledge and coordinate their offline activities. According to Shen Lan’s staff, they joined almost all the LGBT QQ groups in the city, in addition to creating their own group. They also launched Weibo and WeChat accounts, but rarely update these social media profiles due to the lack of resources and time. Like what they do offline, Shen Lan staff also remain extremely cautious in posting content to online platforms. “We never do or say things in a contentious way against the government,” said a staff member. He explained that they chose to keep cooperative ties with the government not only because of the political and economic pressure but also because “you won’t change anything by simply criticizing the government online.” The Shen Lan staff learned the lesson that contestation is not the most efficient approach in China. To organizers, conducting pilot projects and informally lobbying trusted government officials has turned out to be more effective to influence government policies. The same sentiment was found in Teets’ (2015) study with LGBT activists in Yunnan province. In practice, Shen Lan’s work did successfully contribute to some local policy changes. For example, because of Shen Lan’s informal advocacy, anyone can receive the organization’s free HIV testing service, which was only available to Tianjin residents by law.
As a result of its “strategic” collaboration with the government, Shen Lan has received a legitimate status and some political opportunities to serve the LGBT community. As discussed above, however, their work is to a large extent limited to the public health framework. Spires (2011) developed a concept “contingent symbiosis” to describe the relationship between civil rights groups like Shen Lan and the government in an authoritarian state. The Chinese government grants some degree of tolerance to the LGBT organizations given that they can provide services to relieve the state of some its social welfare obligations. While this relationship can be mutually beneficial, it remains fragile and contingent on the political calculations of the government officials. Spires contends that NGO development in such an environment takes on a self-limiting character. Civil rights organizations such as Shen Lan could only survive insofar they refrain from any democratic claims-making or any controversial speech both online and offline.
Play it safe or test the limits
The Internet has showcased its power in many socio-cultural contexts to facilitate social changes. In China, it is also not unusual to see citizens use various new media platforms to expose the government’s wrongdoings and spread news about social conflicts (e.g. Chen & Reese, 2015; Guo, 2014). However, the case of LGBT activism discussed in this article indicates that direct contestation may not be the only or the most effective way to make changes in the Chinese society. In a heavily regulated political environment, many civil rights organizations (such as Shen Lan) choose to take a non-confrontational approach, demonstrating a type of activism with Chinese characteristics.
Still, while some choose to play it safe, others keep testing the limits on what they are supposed to say and do. As one LGBT activist noted, In China, all types of gay and lesbian-related activities involve a process of continual testing and expansion that continues until you cross a line you are not meant to cross … Only by continually testing the limits imposed on our activities can we know where these lines are. (Chase, 2012, p. 158)
Although Shen Lan staff claimed that they strictly follow the government guidelines, they still occasionally posted about sensitive topics through their social media accounts, such as articles to prepare LGBT person to “come out” and those about basic LGBT rights. More empirical research is needed to investigate how these LGBT groups remain a strategic “contingent symbiosis” with the government, while continually testing the limits on the public discourse regarding LGBT issues. The emergence of new ICTs such as WeChat, an all-in-one mobile social media application, also presents new research opportunities to examine how emerging ICTs afford different forms of online activism.
