I do not know where I would be in my life when it comes to my sexuality if it were not for the internet. In my early 20's I was still not out, struggling with what direction to go in, and trying to find my place on the rainbow. Living in a small town of 3200 people there had to be an outlet. There were four gay bars in the state with one 30 miles away while the others were more than a 2 hour drive. I don't know where I would have been without the internet.
Having the internet as an educational, sexual, intellectual resource on gay culture and society was integral in my growth as a confident and out gay man. Of course it cannot teach you everything and human interaction is necessary, but to not have had the world wide web as an out, an in, a tool, I would have developed differently and I would say definitely more slowly into the gay man I am now. But what if did not have access to all of that?
China is trying to ban homosexuality from the internet yet again. The China Netcasting Services Association (CNSA) announced a new ban on homosexual content online, calling it an "abnormal sexual behaviour" and now requires that there are "professional censors" for all streaming sites.
Videos that contain "terrorism, superstition, and homosexuality" are to be removed. Also to be excluded from the internet would be portrayals of prostitution and drug addiction and anything that does not go along with “correct political and aesthetic standards.”
In March of 2016 we reported that China Bans Gay Television Content. The Chinese government banned portrayals of homosexuality on television, as part of a blanket ban of "immoral, vulgar and unhealthy" content that includes smoking, drinking alcohol, suggestive clothing and even the concept of reincarnation. Seems now, they are taking that template and applying it to the Internet.
Websites seem to have no choice to abide by these new rules.
What is difficult to understand is that homosexuality in China was decriminalized in 1997 and remained on the official list of mental illnesses until 2001. What has happened in the past 15 to 20 years to make the LGBT community appear to be on the same level as terrorists and witchcraft? It kind of makes you wonder about the future of one of gay men's most used apps – Grindr's Being Bought Out By A Chinese Gaming Company (May 2017). Will we see the government push regulations onto this now Chinese owned, basically Internet based app?
h/t: independent.co.uk, digitalspy.com
I wish the U.S. would ban
I wish the U.S. would ban homosexual content on the internet. I could be so much more productive.