Thursday, June 18, 2009

There are No Gays in China

Xiao Lan and a transgender at right pose for photo while attending film and art festival on sexual diversity on 6/17/09. For China's gay community, this week's film festival and an art exhibition on sexual diversity in Beijing, along with last week's first gay pride festival in Shanghai, are quiet steps torward surfacing (AP/Ng Han Guan).

Chinese gays coming out quietly

American actress Andie MacDowell during AP interview on 6/18/09 in Shanghai. MacDowell is a one of members of the International Jury For Jin Jue Award of the Shanghai International Film Festival (AP/Eugene Hoshiko). MORE PHOTOS

BEIJING, China – The first time director and movie buff Cui Zi'en tried to hold a gay and lesbian film festival in 2001, it was shut down by police before it even opened. When he tried to organize a gay cultural festival in 2005, five dozen police officers swarmed the venue, closing it.

But this past Wednesday, Cui and other organizers managed to pull off the opening to the five-day Beijing Queer Film Festival with no police and no disruptions — drawing only an appreciative and low-key crowd to the Songzhuang Art District on the city's outskirts. More>>

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