“I’ve been warned not to talk about it,” the woman wrote, before revealing snippets of the day she says she was arrested for publishing gay erotica.

“I’ll never forget it - being escorted to the car in full view, enduring the humiliation of stripping naked for examination in front of strangers, putting on a vest for photos, sitting in the chair, shaking with fear, my heart pounding.”

The handle, Pingping Anan Yongfu, is among at least 8 in recent months which have shared accounts on Chinese social media platform Weibo of being arrested for publishing gay erotic fiction. As authors recounted their experiences, dozens of lawyers offered pro bono help.

At least 30 writers, nearly all of them women in their 20s, have been arrested across the country since February, a lawyer defending one told the BBC. Many are out on bail or awaiting trial, but some are still in custody. Another lawyer told the BBC that many more contributors were summoned for questioning.

  • DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works
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    3 hours ago

    Yea… porn in illegal in China, erotic stories is just “word-porn” basically, this is nothing new.

    This is what conservatism does. Same in China, same in the Deep South of the US (the only reason why porn is still legal-ish in the south is because of the first amendment, but the constitution is being eroded so that might not last long)

    Conservatism is a disease that many countries still have. Take a look at this map:

    Porn being legal is mostly only a thing in the “western world”.

    Even if China has a liberal democracy like in the west, people would still elect conservatives. See democratic countries like: India, South Korea, Ukraine, Phillippines, Malaysia, they all made porn illegal despite being democratic.

    I’m cisgender and probably straight (or asexual not sure tbh), but if I was trans or gay, my parents would’ve disowned me for being “mentally ill” and gave me zero inheritance. I mean, even currently with depression, my parents are already thinking about leaving me out of the will for being a “useless eater”, imagine if I was LGBT. For context, parents are from Mainland, PRC, currently we’re in the US, they are conservstives that just thinks everyone who’s is depressed is either “faking it” or crazy psychopaths and/or “useless eaters”. I hate my life.

  • bob@lemmy.world
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    6 hours ago

    The background of the matter transcends conflicts over gender concepts. In recent years, many local governments have been unable to cover their expenses, resulting in a phenomenon known as “distant sea fishing” (远洋捕捞), which refers to “profit-driven law enforcement,” aimed at plundering money from other places. These female writers are just a tiny fraction of the victims. There are also well-known entrepreneurs who have lost their lives due to such extortion.

  • 🔍🦘🛎@lemmy.world
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    16 hours ago

    These authors are being accused of breaking China’s pornography law for “producing and distributing obscene material”. Writers who earn a profit could be jailed for more than 10 years.

    The law targets “explicit descriptions of gay sex or other sexual perversions”.

    Jesus I thought there might have been some bullshit pretense, but apparently it’s just straight-up illegal there.

  • oh_@lemmy.world
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    19 hours ago

    This will eventually be the U.S. if we don’t stop the erosion. Right now they are going after trans, brown people. They will turn attention after to others.

    • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
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      15 hours ago

      This article has nothing to do with the United States and did not need a US centric comment.

      • MrSpArkle@lemmy.ca
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        15 hours ago

        This article serves as a warning against authoritarianism and should be discussed in every context.

  • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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    19 hours ago

    “The Chinese government wants to promote traditional family values and liking danmei novels is seen as a factor in making women less willing to have children,” Dr Ge explains.

    • DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works
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      3 hours ago

      Democracies can also ban porn. See: South Korea, India, Ukraine, Malaysia, Singapore, Mongolia, etc…

      Its a conservatism issue.

    • ProvableGecko@lemmy.world
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      Don’t be silly, democracy is only when private companies do all encompassing AI powered surveillance.

      If you’ve left a comment on a YouTube video, a new website claims it might be able to find every comment you’ve ever left on any video you’ve ever watched. Then an AI can build a profile of the commenter and guess where you live, what languages you speak, and what your politics might be.

      According to the developer, they’ve provided the tool to cops in Portugal, Belgium, and “other countries in Europe.” They told 404 Media that the website is meant for private investigators, journalists, and cops.

      https://archive.md/buuA6

      • Kami@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        10 hours ago

        Now we only need to find a source of how many lgbtq+ fiction writers have been arrested in those same countries and we can proceed with the comparison.

        • ProvableGecko@lemmy.world
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          16 hours ago

          Chinese corporations do only what government allows them to do, any more and the CEO “takes an extended vacation”.

          • RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz
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            16 hours ago

            Well yeah and the government really wants to pry into every aspect of your life. So you’ll have the same shit

  • Burnoutdv@feddit.org
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    20 hours ago

    I know nothing about Chinese child care, but reading that the government wishes for more child rearing, might it be that there are other systemic problems like no access to child care facilities, a culture that doesn’t value women and people exhausted by long work days? I might have read that this is part of the root cause in korea. But sure, some gay novels might also be the reason for significant numbers. Overall the Chinese are somewhat known for pragmatic approaches, why chasing illusions in this case? The total number of readers and writers can’t be that huge can’t it?

    • belastend@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      13 hours ago

      This reflects a typical right wing approach to “increasing birthrates”: Reinforcing “”““traditional family values””“”, vilifying defiance of gender norms and addressing anything but the root cause.

    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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      17 hours ago

      Overall the Chinese are somewhat known for pragmatic approaches, why chasing illusions in this case? The total number of readers and writers can’t be that huge can’t it?

      Probably enlightened despotism giving way to regular despotism. Facing economic problems, and having shed all pretense of being socialist, the Chinese ruling class likely needs a scapegoat for the country’s troubles.

    • Björn Tantau@swg-empire.de
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      18 hours ago

      Maybe still effects of the one-child-policy times. It’s probably much easier to punish people for having too many children than it is to incentivise having more.

  • Berserker@lemmy.world
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    9 hours ago

    Yeah well you support a genocide, so you are the last to point fingers at China and anyone else.

  • stepan@lemmy.ca
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    14 hours ago

    Weird. I was told state atheism was the hallmark of human rights.