Where are you? - Lavender

Somewhere in the past

Prologue

"Homosexuality is a state issue in China, which spans centuries, but it presents different behaviors in the past and present.

Although homosexuality was decriminalized in China in 1997 and removed from the list of mental disorders in 2001, same-sex marriage remains illegal in the country, and individuals who identify as LGBTQIA+ repeatedly face prejudice. The marriage ban entails other legal restrictions: only heterosexual couples can adopt children, obtain real estate and acquire assets jointly. Putting the civilizational process in reverse, public and private hospitals offer therapies, hypnosis, electroshock, antidotes to "correct unwary citizens". According to Graeme Reid, director of the organization Human Rights Watch, "more than twenty years have passed since China stopped considering homosexuality a crime, but LGBTQIA+ people are still subjected to hospitalization, forced medication and even electroshocks to try to change their sexual orientation."

Culturally, the Chinese value the ability of men and women to procreate, including forming nuclear families. Therefore, homosexuality is seen as a dishonor in the parental lineage, leading fathers and mothers to hide their children's sexual orientation and "erect a heteronormative wall". Arranged marriages and forced marital relations are not uncommon. A study carried out by the University of Qingdao, published in 2012, points out that "90% of the 20 million gay men in China are married to women who ignore their husband's sexual orientation", highlighting the social pressure and suffering spread in the third largest country in the world. globe.

But history wasn't always like this. Literary records from the 7th century BC describe romantic relationships between men of the Chinese court inside and outside the palace grounds; Manuscript sources from the 4th century BC identify numerous monarchs with same-sex partners. Remote paintings represent homoerotic scenes indicating that homosexuality, bisexuality and heterosexuality dictated the tone in a society devoid of gender prejudice.

Laws against homosexuality arrived in China during the Qing Dynasty (1600-1900), brought by European Jesuits. Amazed by the naturalness of relationships between people of the same sex, Christian missionaries took up the anti-homosexuality banner as a fundamental cause, almost an "original sin" to be expunged, and encouraged successive rulers to proscribe relationships that were at odds with "divine teachings". Persecuted, tortured and killed, thousands of Chinese fell into the clutches of intolerance and fell to the violent attacks of the so-called "soldiers of Christ". Before the so-called "Christianity", the predominant schools of philosophy in the East, Confucianism and Taoism in particular, had little interest in elaborating dogmas and moral judgments regarding same-sex relationships."

Note:
The text above does not represent a personal opinion, it is contained and based on historical research reported in the article: "Before prejudice: homosexuals in Ancient China", by Luis Gustavo Reis. Luis Gustavo Reis is a teacher, editor of school books and co-author of the books Ensaios Incendiários sobre um mundo normalizado (2021) and Texturas e Veredas (2022).