SimplySxy

Tag: Beijing LGBT Center

  • Mama Rainbow: Interview with Fan Popo

    Mama Rainbow: Interview with Fan Popo

    Fan Popo is a prolific film director and activist from mainland China. His latest documentary film Mama Rainbow (2012) features six mothers, from all over China, who openly and freely talk about their experiences with their gay and lesbian children. They are helping to redefine the Chinese family dynamics in a period where the LGBT community has little space for expression in China. Fan Popo is a rising star in LGBT China and his work has been recognized by international community. In mid April this year, Fan Popo was awarded “Visual Inspiration of the Year” at the Asia LGBT Milestone Award 2015 (ALMA) held in Bangkok.

    This is my interview with the winner.

    Patrick Huang (PH): Hi Popo, first of all congratulations for the win and we are truly happy to have you here. I already refer to you a little bit in the introduction. But, I’m pretty sure that you have some more things to say.

    Fan Popo (FP): Hi Patrick and everyone. I am now a full-time filmmaker and also organize screenings for the LGBT films in China. I have been filming documentaries on LGBT issues since 2007. I am also a committee of Beijing Queer Film Festival and Beijing LGBT center.

    PH: Great!!! What does the overall situation about gay communities in China look like?  Compared to when you were young, is the situation improving?

    FP: In my school years, I was keen on looking for books in the library to  really understand my (gay) identity and found that the situation has changed a lot over the years. Since 1997, being a gay person in China is no longer criminalized, and since 2001, being gay is no longer considered a mental illness. The unit of family is important in Chinese culture. Today families are more tolerant to other gay people, but they are still not willing to accept if their own children are gay. There is still very strict censorship on LGBT media too. All of my films are banned for the big theaters. I can only show them in, like, a small café and even for Mama Rainbow. (sigh)

    PH: Well, it is not at all unpromising. At least your fans can watch it online, right?  What website can your fans go through?

    FP: Yes, you can watch through www.queercomrade.com or if you are outside China, you can do it through YouTube. Just search with “Mama Rainbow”. (grin)

    PH: Well, is there any film you are shooting now?

    FP: ….Well, now I’m spending most of my time on Papa Rainbow. We have to find several fathers (whose children are gay) throughout the entire China. That is really amazing. Besides that, I am also working on a documentary. It is about the same-sex couples who took wedding pictures on street in 2009. Yes, I follow 2 couples and it will be on screen in 2019 approximately. That is also a good time to celebrate their 10-year anniversary, I think. (grin)

    PH: Great!, I’m not sure if you can tell us a little bit of how Papa Rainbow will look like. What is the difference and similarity, compared to Mama Rainbow?

    FP: Papa Rainbow will be special and different from Mama Rainbow. I don’t want to duplicate to what we did to Mama Rainbow. However, I would like to keep it secret for now. (giggling) But, I can tell that it will be done within this year.

    PH: Oh!, I can’t really wait to see it and I hope your fans are looking forward to seeing it too Great!!! Now what do you want to say to your fans?

    FP: To my lovely audiences, without your support, I would have not been able to accomplish to such a great extent. To me, film is the most substantial tool of communication. I hope you will continue to follow LGBT issues in China and support the independent films. (smile) Also thank you very much to Patrick for putting this interview together.

    PH: Thanks Popo and please let us know when Papa Rainbow is out. (hug)

    Image courtesy of Fan Popo

    Have an amazing experience or tips you like to share on SimplySxy?  Drop us an email at editorial@SimplySxy.com!

  • Gay ‘cure’ victim in China petitions World Health Organization for help and sues clinic

    Gay ‘cure’ victim in China petitions World Health Organization for help and sues clinic

    90,000+ All Out members join call to WHO Director-General:

    “Being gay is not a mental disease”

    Paris/Beijing | August 29, 2014

    In 72 hours, more than 90,000 All Out members will have signed the petition of a Chinese gay ‘cure’ survivor. The petition urges the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Executive Director to re-affirm the organisation’s stated position that being gay is not a mental disease and to unequivocally condemn gay ‘cures’ for the first time.

    Chinese petition starter Xiao Zhen*, 30, is the first person to sue an anti-gay clinic in China, after it used electroshock therapy to try to “shock the gayness” out of him. Xiao Zhen* is leading a global outcry to push WHO to speak out and help convince Chinese officials to ban sham gay ‘cures’ that are spreading throughout the country.

    “I’ve been through electro shocks at a gay ‘cure’ clinic in China. Now I’m fighting back to tell everyone in China and beyond that being gay is Okay and to make sure that gay ‘cures’ are banned,” said Xiao Zhen*. “Together with 90,000 All Out members, I’m calling on WHO to back me up and send a simple message to Chinese authorities and the Chinese medical community: Being gay is okay! It’s not a disease. No one should have to endure the trauma that I have, ever again.”

    Last July, after enduring the sham ‘treatment’, Xiao Zhen* filed the first lawsuit against a gay ‘cure’ clinic in China. The ruling of this landmark legal battle is expected in September and could mean that gay ‘cures’, or so-called ‘conversion therapy’, could be banned nationwide.

    “The global mobilisation and the trial could be a game changer for lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in China and the rest of the world. The World Health Organization has the authority to persuade the political and medical authorities to ban gay ‘cures’, said Andre Banks, All Out’s Co-founder and Executive Director. “WHO Executive Director, Dr Margaret Chan can use her powerful voice to help ban gay ‘cures’ for good.”

    China stopped viewing homosexuality as a mental disease in 2001. Despite this official recognition, thousands of clinics in the country continue to offer sham gay ‘cures’.

    “In China, being gay is still seen as something that can be cured, and thousands of scam clinics prey on that myth. Despite official recognition by the government that being gay is not a mental disease, parents and doctors are pressuring gay people to undergo phoney treatments.” said Xiao Tie, Executive Director of the Beijing LGBT Centre who is backing the legal action and joining All Out’s global mobilisation.

    “These sham gay ‘cures’ kill. Their persistence perpetuates discrimination and can have disastrous, or even fatal consequences for the gay or lesbian person subjected to the painful and humiliating treatments.” said Tingting Wei, Executive Director of the Chinese gay rights organization Queer Comrades, who has staged protests in support of the lawsuit and is also supporting All Out’s global mobilisation.

    For an up-to-date petition signature count click here:

    www.allout.org/end-gay-cures-china

    * This is a pseudonym

    About All Out

    In 77 countries, it is a crime to be gay; in 10 it can cost you your life. All Out is mobilizing millions of people and their social networks to build a powerful global movement for love and equality. Our mission is to build a world where no person will have to sacrifice their family or freedom, safety or dignity, because of who they are or who they love.

    The Beijing LGBT Center and Queer Comrades are Chinese gay rights organisations.  

    Image courtesy of Shutterstock
    Join SimplySxy’s forum discussions now on Society
    Do not miss another article on SimplySxy!  Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for our latest updates