The Shanghaiist has more details about the official disruption of China’s first gay pride event in Shanghai:
At 4pm on Wednesday, officials visited Kathleen’s 5, which had plans for two film screenings, and ordered them to cancel the events because they lacked the proper film screening license. The films they’d intended to show were “s/he,” about a young girl’s sexual identity crisis, and “Destination Shanghai,” about the city’s sex trade.
[…]Similarly, authorities visited Barefoot Studios, which was supposed to host the “The Laramie Project,” a play about gay hate crimes in small town America—and told warned them not to hold the event. Furthermore, one of today’s Pride events, the Open Bar at Shanghai Studio, was also canceled, though organizers say this was the venue’s own decision.
Despite these cancellations and setbacks and the associated jitters, much of the show will go on. The organizers are busy finding new venues for some of the cancelled events. Co-organizer Hannah Miller tells us that The Laramie Project will find a new venue and run next Friday instead. Of all these setbacks and minor brushes with the authorities, Miller said “of course we’re disappointed, but it’s true we didn’t have a license. But the overall feeling is still positive and we’re still feeling optimistic. We’ll wait and see how the rest of the week goes.”
Interestingly, an article at Shanghai Daily about this story appears to have been deleted.
