Photos of a Chinese drag queen shopping in a grocery while wearing high heels and a revealing bikini bottom became viral on Weibo on Tuesday. However, not that many Chinese gays and lesbians are as open to the public about their gender preference like that shopper.
China Daily reported that a U.N. survey found that only one in 20 LGBTI Chinese is open to society about their different sexuality. Of the 18,000 young gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex Chinese surveyed by the United Nations, about 50 percent said they were open about their different sexuality in school, while 75 percent of those employed remain inside the closet.
Like other countries, because of the large number of closeted LGBTI members, it would be difficult to estimate their actual numbers. However, using the standard estimate in other countries of 3 to 5 percent of the national population, that would translate to about 40 to 70 million Chinese.
Wu Lijuan, professor of sociology at Peking University and leader of the United Nations Development Programme poll, noted that social progress in the last 10 years in China hardly changed the invisible status of sex and gender minority groups in everyday life and media.
Although Wu said that while there are now media presentations in the internet about LGBTI people, it often reinforces stereotypes instead of presenting a balanced view. Bu Wie, professor of communication at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that presentations continue to portray gay male characters as effeminate and lesbians as butches.
Nevertheless, there is an improvement in acceptance among young generation non-LGBTI members. The report, released on Tuesday, found that two-thirds of those born after the 1990s do not mind becoming close to LGBTI community members, while only 56 percent of those born before 1970 shared the same sentiment.
Meanwhile, Joe and Anthony Russo, directors of “Captain America: Civil War,” which was a hit in China, disclosed to Cinema Blend that future Marvel movies would include LGBTI characters, although the two admitted they did not include an LGBTI character in the current movie for fear it would negatively affect box office chances of the movie in countries like China and Russia.