China arrests gays

Maybe San Francisco will be forced to take this situation a little more seriously now, huh?

:0

I'm sure the same thing happens here in the USA - it's just a lot more subtle. Just like racism and violation of civil rights. Sad but true.

Wow. How messed up is this? The Olympics have to be held elsewhere because of this and Tibet.

China's civil rights abuses just keep stacking up.

Free Tibet and free the gays!

Well I guess thats what happens when big government feels like their loosing control of the situation, they can always round up the gays and arrest them; yeah they'll show us who's in control. oooohh daaadddy

free tibet and the gays but keep the olimpics there

A good thing about the olympics being in China, it's focusing a TON of attention that way. Maybe it's enough to make a difference? Wishful thinking...

why didn't they just go the whole hog and host the games in Zimbabwe.

What the heck? Current TV picked the most ignorant comment to put on TV? "I am sure the same thing happens here in the USA" ??

Patsarts, your ignorance of American history is depressing and embarrassing. The last time this happened in the USA was the start of the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village, NY, when police raided a gay bar called Stonewall and the ensuing confrontation went down in history to kick off the gay rights movement in America. That was in 1969.

It is senseless to minimize the unjust actions of an entire nation by sniffing, "Oh I bet the same thing happens here, just on a more subtle level." Your comment not only mimimizes China's human rights abuses but consigns the entire gay rights movement to an afterthought. Activists in China cannot speak out on issues which you take for granted, without being thrown in jail.

People like you Patsarts, are the reason injustice persists in the world. If you can't be bothered to educate yourself, at least don't go advertising your ignorance to the rest of us.

"First they came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist...."

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the tradeuniionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for you, Patsarts, and by that time no one was left to speak up."

Need a refresher patsarts? Check
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came...

for as long as China continue to supply our ever growing addiction to cheap goods they will have free reins to to as they please.

it so crazy that this stuff still goes on... don't they know that it's okay to love whomever you happen to love? and it's pretty good for business too!

jarratt

Julie, I completely agree with you that playing down China's actions just because it happens here is a terrible idea, but that doesn't make patsarts point any less important. As unacceptable as China's deeds are, we can't lose sight of the fact that things are a mess here.

i'm not surprised

I don't understand why all of this is happening now. Is it just because China is trying to save face for the Olympics? Or is China just using the Olympics as an excuse for a more heinous level of oppression?

Geee no suprises here... HELLO it is CHINA!!!!

Free Tibet...the gays...and Darfur...

Wow. Its funny to see how much media coverage China all of a sudden gets... All due to the Tibet tension. I dont doubt that shady wrong doings are going down, but shit people.. lets face some more immediate situations with this same sense of "awareness" and make things better for everyone. I really doubt this is the whole story. Ive noticed our "author" up top likes to leave out a lot of information in his posts. Although I do have to say he makes sure to cite where he can.

I'm not sure how I feel about the way the story was presented up above, but I find it interesting how the problems in Tibet have caused a snowball effect. I, for one am not surprised this has happened. It's no different than the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989; which even though it was nearly twenty years ago, it still affects me to this day. I remember walking through the square two years ago and thinking about those college students who just wanted some democracy. It made (and still does) me appreciate the freedom I do have to let my voice be heard and participate in the activism I've done.

But even though I have this freedom in the US, there are still some problems on our homefront that we need to take care of. Even just within the state of California (which is apparently supposed to be a liberal state), an organization like Protect Marriage just had petitions signed to pass amendment on banning LGBT marriage forever.

So even if our stories are not as extreme as China's, there still some things at home that we need to consider.

sad!!!just sad, hitler is back!what a mistake they are making!!what is freedom? must we all be alike in this world? shame on the narrow minds!!

well yes..
but where do we go from here?
what can we do to help?
to change?
how can we unite the voices?

they shouldn't arrest these guys man. They've got a population out of control out there. They need many of these people to keep it under control

sinlung... LOL remarkably well pointed out. that's a helluva population control strategy you got there. funny how they can't just as "naturally" reproduce now can they hehe =D but hey, *recruiting*! now there's an idea! maybe they could propogandize and recruit half of China to the idea of this "inalienable lifestyle," huh? well, government repression aside for the moment, to my understanding, the vast majority of the Asian culture simply react to the act or practice of the homosexual "lifestyle" not in the kind of seasoned indifference we've been trained to espouse supposedly here in the States, but in some kind of unfathomable loathing. imagine that! i can't understand why they'd react that way if it's so natural or common throughout history, society, etc, as we're so often told to believe! tsk just too bad they can't get the ever-present marketing momentum homosexuals enjoy here in the states to repeatedly and repeatedly rationalize it for them too y'know?

maybe they should try pushing their way onto every popular tv show (oh except for the heavier crime dramas...can't afford to dilute those with any attempt at casual humor or "acceptance" right?) to raise awareness that homosexuals aren't really opportunists...unless...of course, it's for population control! =D Get The Advocate on that ASAP, eh? maybe they can put some kind of an "eco-population-green" spin on it... I can see the commercials now...so lovingly... "We *really* CARE about the environment..." =D hehe

well, if it helps, again government repression aside (many are persecuted there for religious beliefs as well of course although I never really hear the cry against religious intolerance with as much ferocity here in the states oddly...hmmm), I'm not sure they should be in jail either, being they presumably they haven't corrupted or confused the youth of their own culture yet for "acceptance," but how funny how it seems there's almost a universal uninhibited aversion for the "uninitiated" to the "open" expression of homosexuality "across cultures" it seems.... we better get to de-naturalizing them to that too though huh?

echoz, you need to research your thoughts, you are grossly incorrect.

oh but i did. You might think not being how much of an a$$ I may seem to be but...

(perhaps you're right "politically" speaking anyhow...honestly, I'm not hateful--sorry if it may seem that way--and don't like to hear about mistreatments especially physical) it's just different, and understandably so imho though I know it's hard for some to "accept" that for some reason. The reaction to those who don't immediately "accept" or espouse "tolerance" for the "lifestyle" because of either their own sexual preference, concern for their children, or because of their own religious beliefs, are immediately, reversely, cowed and disrespected as stupid, bigoted or worse--which isn't right nor objective in a world with many views. It's discrimination in reverse, and despite differences, I have yet to see any who will openly acknowledge that it's not exactly right either. *shrug* ...life goes on.

***

Taken from the QRD (Queer Resources Directory) on the Internet at http://www.qrd.org/QRD, and other sources

Hostile society keeps China's gay community cowed

by Tiffany Bown

Beijing, Dec 12 (AFP) - "David" is a 23-year-old Chinese politics student. Few friends know he is also a homosexual looking for a lover in a society where even fellow gays are disgusted by their own behaviour. While in awe of the handful of gays who are daring to speak openly in order to promote awareness in a hostile society, the student, like most Chinese homosexuals, has little intention of joining them.

"Coming out publicly would be a disaster for an ordinary person - he would be fired and ostracised," said David, who was willing to speak on condition that his Chinese name not be used. "Most just care about their own lives, they just want to try to be happy."

This is hard enough. Many Chinese gays - burdened with ignorance, discrimination and fear - are unable to comprehend their homo- sexual yearnings and close themselves off from society, tormented by self-hate, said Wu Chunsheng, one of China's few campaigners.

"It's very common for Chinese gays not to have a single homosexual lover in their life," [like they don't enjoy being promiscuous! lol] said Wu, noting that finding a steady partner was hard even for the minority who dared to venture out to tolerated gay meeting spots like Beijing's Dongdan Park and the five-star Kuniun Hotel's discotheque....

The world better get used to this "people being gay" thing. So many people are gay now, it's not even funny. Who Cares?!?
If a guy decides he likes a guy, then ohh well. Too bad.
Don't descriminate. It's a waste of time and energy.

"So many people are gay now it's not even funny" FU, the world is not gay or you wouldn't be here. What are you trying to invoke? safety in numbers? =D lol better start cataloguing now, cuz if you wanna continue to see that it's always "us against them" it's you who'd be instigating the bs, no? but...

"Who cares?" yeah who cares...that's the real truth actually, or it should be...funny but it's the gays who always care and cry the phukn most. but to many more people who are normal who don't feel the need to accept people immediately based on their sexuality, they have the right to regard homosexuality however the phuk they want. And *that's* tough titties for all you bleeding liberals out there advocating "rights" for "gays". I always advocate for the respectful acknowledgement of obvious differences especially if people disagree, but so often all I ever hear are gays bitchin' they're bogusly "discriminated" against because they don't have a right to trample someone else's religious views and rights to disagree with a practice they may find immoral or perverted in fact. That's phuktup that gays can't be more understanding about that. I think, if you're gay, fine, keep it to your dam self, like you do your blood type or your social security number, or any other private information. Who gives a phuk. I don't make my identity to you conditional upon you accepting how I like my sex either so no one has to take it so phukn personal.

But people are so brainwashed and stupid that I can see clearly there is no respect for obvious differences as there should be. And as regards rights based on sex, heterosexuals are the only "special" ones as regards sex since we naturally procreate and as one of my Texas friends mentioned last night =D LOL "God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve." And people have a right to believe what they want and associate with who they want. Gays aren't obligated to like it either, like I'm not obligated to like what they do on their own time either. But I know this won't be the last time we hear of some gay bitchin' because the bible condemns homosexuality along with every other sexually immoral sin; although absolutely no one is immune or excluded from any sexual sin you can think of...but gays are the only bassturdz who chronically complain about it. If we're going to open up the doors for homosexuality then we'll have to consider polygamy a viable alternative as well along with certain forms of pedophilia, and bestiality etc. But people are so stupid they don't even realize it.

Not to go aganist the tide of China bashing here, but I really don't know how valid this story is. I've been living in China for two years and I just did a video for current called China a little more gay......which shows that China's got a small but fast growing gay scene in Shanghai.

I am not saying that this kind of thing doesn't happen in CHina or that the government is an ideal one, but I think stories are blown way out of porportion here about how oppressive it is in China...we don't exactly have the most exampleraly record either, but no one is saying America is not free and it's oppressive.