At That’s magazine, Will Philipps writes about the Beijing’s growing community of gay Russians, who have traveled there in search of acceptance and freedom to express their sexual orientation:
“I enjoy living outside of Russia because it’s so conservative there,” Vadim admits. “I feel more free being gay here in China than I do in Russia. Lots of people who work at [LGBT-friendly Russian nightclub] Chocolate are gay: waiters, singers, dancers, creative people. All Russian gay people know each other, they stick together.”
[…] The feeling of being protected by a sense of “foreignness” is shared by many of the Russians I speak to. There’s a different set of rules. “You’re already strange [as a foreigner],” Vadim jokes. “So you can wear whatever you want.”
[…] Homosexuality was decriminalized in China in 1997, and although there is an active gay scene in Beijing – exemplified by openly gay nightclubs like Destination and Funky – to be gay in China remains somewhat taboo. A 2014 report by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) pointed to an official culture of “not encouraging, not discouraging, not promoting”, with public opinion regarding non-traditional sexual orientation and gender identity ‘remaining predominantly negative’. [Source]
Read about the climate for China’s own gay citizens via CDT.
