Young public figures in China take to social media to publicly come out
Two young entertainers in China took to social media today to make a video and publicly come out to the world. Liu Cong, from Tencent’s idol survival show Produce 101 2021 and his influencer boyfriend, Chen Lu, went live on Weibo earlier today to celebrate Chen Lu’s birthday. It was during this livestream that they announced they are, in fact, in love and very much an official couple.
During the video they sat very closely together and even shared a moment where one leaned in to kiss the other. The video garnered quite a lot of attention and was trending on hot search on Weibo for most of the day. Many folks flocked to the livestream and left comments of well wishes and happiness to them both, however there was also a little backlash from some Chinese citizens.
An event like this is significant in China for several reasons. Firstly, while it’s not illegal to be gay in China, the LGBTQ community does not enjoy the same rights as heterosexual citizens. China does not support marriage equality, LGBTQ couples cannot adopt or own property together, and there are no protections against LGBTQ discrimination in society. And discrimination is plentiful.
Secondly, a public outing like this, and the subsequent physical affection the two shared on camera, is especially significant because China bolsters some pretty hefty media laws that prohibit the depiction of LGBTQ themes on their screens. While Weibo is a social media platform and not an official film or television arena, it is a public space that is government regulated and in this case, the government has not ordered that the video be removed, nor has any attempt to censor the images the boys’ created occurred.
And finally, this is important because homophobia is still rife among many communities in China. While the sentiments of the younger generations are changing, many older folks still vehemently reject queerness and consider it to be a mental illness that can be cured.
For all of these reasons, queer public figures almost never come out in China. Exceptionally famous people never do. Liu Cong is not a massive celebrity. He has only just begun to dip his toes in the Chinese entertainment industry and is, by no means, considered a big fish. At this point, he is a little fish in a huge pond, however the attention their coming out has received has the potential to shift that now. Which direction this could go for him remains to be seen.
Since the onset of the pandemic, the Chinese government has taken steps to silence their LGBTQ community. They have ordered the closing down of many queer spaces and have required university LGBTQ organizations to turn over the names of those who have participated in their events and registered as queer individuals. Pride marches have been permanently canceled, and organizations working to advance the queer community have been targeted and dismantled.
It has currently been less than 24 hours since Liu Cong and Chen Lu posted their video. Watch this space for more information as the situation surrounding them and their brave act unfolds in the coming days. We wish them nothing but light, love, and happiness. May they stay safe, and their careers remain uninterrupted by their public declarations to each other.
