Year of Gay China
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June 7-13: Pride, Shanghai
The Chinese mainland's very first gay pride event was held in Shanghai as a series of events held in private venues: panel discussions, art shows, literary evenings, parties, wine tasting events, film screenings, and sports events.
According to Pride organizer, Kenneth Tan, one of Shanghai LGBT's founders, Hannah Miller came up with the idea just before heading back to the US to do her masters. "She floated the idea to us, everyone said yes, and the rest is history."
An estimated 3,000 people attended the six-day festival with people flying in from all over China.
"I think people went away refreshed with a vision of what things could be like in the future," said Tan.
June 14-21: Difference Gender Art Exhibition, Beijing
Despite the fact local authorities arrived the day prior and removed several pieces from the exhibition that were considered "pornographic", the first public queer art exhibition in China survived to embrace 500 visitors on its opening day.
Past attempts at having an LGBT-themed art exhibition met with closure before even being allowed to open.
"This was the first one that really worked," Yang Ziguang, who curated the exhibition, told METRO.
"We wanted to raise the consciousness of individuals and communicate with the public," said Sam, founder and editor of Les+ Magazine,one of the exhibition's sponsors.
One of the artists, Zheng Bo, copied and modified some of his pieces on display at the Guangdong Museum of Contemporary Art in Guangzhou. After two years of preparation and a team of more than 50 people, including 14 participating artists, the exhibition was deemed an overwhelming success, attracting visitors both gay and straight.
June 17: Fourth Beijing International Queer Film Festival
Songzhuang Art Village played host to another first for the Chinese LGBT community - a film festival that did not get shut down. But the fourth time, it turned out, was the charm.
For fellow organizer, Cui Zi'en, who is a well-known film director, scholar and LGBT activist, told METRO that like the Difference Gender Art Exhibition, the location in Songzhuang had a lot to do with the festival's success, as did their decision to not publicize it in advance.
Half of the LGBT-themed films shown were Chinese and the other half were from abroad. The Fourth Beijing International Queer Film Festival included a new element, called "Queer From Diverse Cultures," which invited a queer film festival from another country to curate one program of films. Another highlight was the successful gathering of queer films and filmmakers from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore and three panel discussions.
"That's the function of our festival and our goal: to make an open and free platform for people of different points of view and positions to express and share."
June 28: PFLAG China's 2nd anniversary, Guangzhou
Wu Youjian, founder of PFLAG China, is the mother of the first gay man to come out on Chinese television in 2004. After appearing on a television show the following year in support of her son, Zheng Yuantao told METRO that it was then she really started paying attention to issues involving China's LGBT community.
"I set up PFLAG because I wanted to establish a social network to help them, especially their parents, and to increase the understanding and communication between gays and their parents and relatives," Wu explained.
An official chapter of the original US organization PFLAG, which is an acronym for "Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays", PFLAG China boasts 30 active parents and 120 volunteers, said Wu. They also hold bi-annual meetings, called "Talk Frankly Gay Parents" for parents of gays and lesbians all over China. The next one will take place in January 2010.
July 27-Aug 2: The World Outgames, Copenhagen
2009 marked the first time a Chinese delegation attended the World Outgames held in Copenhagen. Tongyu founder and director, Xu Bin, who attended the first Outgames conference in Montreal in 2006, said she immediately felt the need to form a Chinese delegation for the next one.
Fan Popo, an LGBT activist who is very involved in the community and an avid marathoner, told METRO: "I was out and willing to accept the media attention that would be part of going to the Outgames, I decided to compete in the marathon competition."
With financial support local organization the Outgames committee in Denmark , Fan was able to attend the Outgames. It was a life-changing experience for him.
"The environment in Denmark is really wonderful," he said. "I found that the people there were really tolerant of LGBT people. They treated them like ordinary people."
While Fan did not bring home a medal, the Chinese delegation succeeded in coming home with a Gold Medal in beach volleyball and a Bronze in ping pong.
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