Picture from Heroin the Web Series
Where’s the worst place in the world to be gay? China apparently.
In honor or Pride Month, the German website Nestpick decided to do a survey and rank the most LGBTQ welcoming cities in the world. China didn’t favor so well.
In fact, out of the top 100 cities, three at the bottom were from China.
Beijing came in dead last at 100, Shanghai stood at 89, and Hong Kong only could reach 83.
(Meanwhile, Madrid stood at the top of the list with Amsterdam, Toronto, Tel Aviv, and London standing behind it).
Although homosexuality was decriminalized back in 1997, there’s still a deep stigma against LGBTQ people both in the government and in everyday life.
LGBTQ citizens are hounded by the police when they try to organize conferences and functions.
Parents of LGBTQ youth are kicked out from events that parents of straight people gather at.
And the government is wishy washy in its treatment of LGBTQ people both in media and in real life.
Image from Herion the Web Series
For instance, last year a popular gay web series titled Heroin (A combination of the names of the two main characters and a metaphor for how their love was addictive) was banned because it became too popular. China then tried to cover it up by saying they banned it for underage drinking and "romance between minors."
But, China is preparing to show its first film focusing on a gay romance titled “Seeking McCartney.”
In fact, it seems every other week we share a news story of China being in favor or against LGBTQ people.
And if we are this confused on the outside, imagine what it must be like for LGBTQ people living in the country.
Our hearts go out to those who are living in China, we hope one day the country and its cities will do better to accept you as you are and we hope they’ll rise in the ranks of lists like this.
