The BBC reports that authorities have told the organizers of China’s first modern gay festival to cancel certain events:
Officials have warned the owners of two venues planning to hold a play and a film screening they would face “severe consequences” if they went ahead… The festival’s organisers are confused and frustrated. They do not know what is going on, and calls to the officials involved have gone unanswered.
It could be that this is more the result of the authorities’ nervousness about public events they do not control than about the official attitude to homosexuality.
But it shows how, in this country, any effort to advance the rights of a group in society is viewed with suspicion and sometimes alarm.
An earlier article praising China’s gay community stated that such a festival acted as a “showcase of the country’s social progress:”
The China Daily has carried a large front-page article about the event and about homosexuality in the country.
An editorial inside says the festival shows how Shanghai, what it calls “one of the most open and progressive Chinese cities”, has displayed acceptance and tolerance by allowing the festival to take place.
