The Publishing and Printing Department wrote letters to local publishers asking them to stop releasing “cliched, useless, obscene, and offensive” romance novels. The letter asked the publishers to release only “healthy” content that is “suitable with
Vietnamese habits and customs.”

Earlier this year, Vietnamese media had criticized the imported romance novels as “trashy”, characterizing them as having improper ideas about love and relationship, and even promoting rape.

The Vietnamese media singled out the genre known as danmei (耽美)–homosexual romance novels that originate from the yaoi phenomenon in Japan–as being especially damaging. Vietnamese media said the romance novels, which are mostly translated internet fiction, attract readers as young as 12 or 13.

Director of the publishing department Chu Van Hoa said the ban was only “temporary”. “We do not shut down any genre of books, but the government needs to regulate an activity related to culture and people’s way of thinking so that it can benefit people.”

Chu was quoted as saying only those publishers which prove to be capable of selecting good books will be allowed to publish romance novels.

Gay romance novels account for a majority of book sales for Vietnamese publishers because they are produced in greater numbers and are priced higher than other products, according to local media reports.

Meanwhile, Chinese reports of the ban de-emphasize the focus upon homosexual content.

The post Vietnam Bans Gay Romance Novels from China appeared first on The Nanfang.

According to an article published on the official WeChat account of the Ningbo Center for Disease Control (CDC) called “Has the Wolf arrived? The AIDS Epidemic of Ningbo Students”, last year 30 students at the University contracted HIV. Although HIV can be transmitted a number of ways, 80 percent of cases at Ningbo are said to have been transmitted from male-to-male sexual contact.

Zhang Yan, the Ningbo CDC official in charge of AIDS prevention and control, published the statistics which suggested that a gay lifestyle was the root cause. Zhang said:

A lot of people think that schools are like some kind of ivory tower, and so they let down their guard (when they attend). Publishing these local statistics serves as a call to action for students to adopt a moral lifestyle and establish a healthy sexuality.

In 2013, 87.1 percent of all new AIDS cases in China were sexually transmitted, with gay men being the group most at risk. Estimates of AIDS cases in China vary from 430,000 to 1.5 million and, in 2008, AIDS became the leading cause of death by infectious disease in China, with approximately 7,000 fatalities that year.

The post “Gay Lifestyle” Blamed for HIV Outbreak at Ningbo University appeared first on The Nanfang.

Homosexual conversion therapy is a process that uses hypnosis and electric shock therapy to “re-train” the sexual impulses of gay men to be heterosexual. The therapy is popular with traditional Chinese families that want to maintain a sense of family honour.

Hu Zhijun, executive director of PFLAG China, said the ruling will raise awareness and sensitivity toward gay rights. Hu admitted that, although homosexual conversion therapy will continue to be popular, the verdict marks a shift in the public’s perception towards gays and lesbians, saying, “It can serve as a powerful reference for gay children feeling pressure from their families to undergo such therapy.”

In February, Xiaozhen underwent therapy at the insistence of his family in order to prove that homosexual conversion was not effective. Xiaozhen was hypnotized for 20 minutes while being told of the immorality of homosexuality. Then, he was instructed to think homosexual thoughts for which he was shocked with electricity.

Xiaozhen was particularly critical of the treatment because clinics that offered the service had no clear standard to define a “successful conversion”. Xiaozhen said he knows many gays that underwent the therapy who willingly acknowledged having been converted because they were unable to bear the pain from the electric shocks.

Despite the national significance of the ruling, Xiaozhen said in an interview that his decision to sue the clinic was a personal one:

Since there are many of these psychological consultancies all around the country, I feel like I had to stop them. We’ve tried going to the Commerce department and the Health department to file a complaint, but to no use; they’ve both said that they’re not responsible in this matter. Therefore, I’ve decided to take them to court, otherwise, what else is there to do?

And when confronted with accusations that homosexual special interest groups were attracting too much attention by constantly complaining, Xiaozhen explained the life of a gay man in China:

The problem is that there’s no way to let us quietly be “beautiful men” because the entire system isn’t fair. There’s no way to live your own life. And as we can’t get married, we have to say something about that as well.
That’s why this (court verdict) serves as a learning device: to let everyone know. There are a lot of people that don’t intentionally try to discriminate against you, but only do so because they do it subconsciously without knowing.

Related:

• Guangzhou students call on Chinese leaders to legalize same-sex marriage
• Shenzhen hosts China’s first public wedding between two women
• Gay couple announce engagement in Dongguan on Chinese Valentine’s Day

Photos: Weibo (2), Beijing Comrade Center, qzwb

The post Beijing Court Rules Homosexuality Not An Illness; Questions Legitimacy Of “Conversion Therapy” appeared first on The Nanfang.

Beijing is the capital of China, a historic city that that residents claim is the cradle of Chinese civilization. But with so much history, perhaps it takes cities like Beijing even longer liberalize and embrace new ways of living.

That is one theory, anyway, for why some views expressed in this video might seem harsh. Beijing LGBT in Asia, a lobby group, hit the streets to ask Beijingers a series of questions related to their thoughts on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people. While a few people expressed openness towards the LGBT community, others were much less so. Take a look, and let us know what you think.

[h/t Shanghaiist]

Photos: Youku screenshots

The post Beijingers Express Surprising Views On LGBT People In Controversial Video appeared first on The Nanfang.

The man described how he felt while taking part at the opening ceremonies of the Gay Games:

The atmosphere here at the scene is incredible! At the opening ceremonies, there was only me representing China! It was a difficult moment! Hope that next time our contingent can be even larger!

More than 60 nations and between 8,000 and 10,000 athletes that are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered are taking part in the 2014 Gay Games.

The motto of the Games is “Participation, Inclusion and Personal Best”. The open nature of the Gay Games is reflected by its complete lack of qualifying standards for competing athletes, ensuring that any person from any country can participate.

Photos: China Daily

The post The Only Chinese Athlete at World Gay Games Wins Silver appeared first on The Nanfang.