Xiang Xiaohan, a 19-year-old gay activist, was taken into custody early Saturday when police came to his hotel room and put him under administrative detention for 12 days on charges of organising an illegal rally on May 17.
His lawyer, Lin Qilei, released a statement: “He’s been put under administrative detention for 12 days on charges of organising an illegal rally. His mother is mentally ill and he looks after her. We’ve asked authorities to cut short his detention”. Lin advised that Xiang was being held in Changsha Detention Center. In China, people can be held without trial for at least one month, according to a report on the offficial IDAHO website quoting VOA News.
Beijing-based LGBT documentary-maker Queer Comrades posted a video on Youtube on Jun 5 saying: "On May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia (IDAHO), over a hundred LGBT people and allies from Beijing, Hong Kong, Guangdong, Chongqing, Hubei and Zhejiang gathered at the scenic river belt near Hexi University to fight for their rights and against discrimination. The event was held by the local LGBT rights organisation 'Hunan With Love', and was named '2013 China Mainland (Changsha) Anti-Discrimination Summer Event.'"
Xiang and three others were taken away by the local police on early Saturday morning, the day after the rally. The three were released on Saturday but Xiang was administratively detained.
Ah Qiang, a fellow gay rights activist who also attended the rally, said he believes Xiang was singled out because he is a prominent advocate for LGBT rights in the south of China.“He [Xiang Yuhan] was the organiser of the rally, he runs a community website for homosexuals and helped launch a similar event last year. He is very active and wants to keep hosting the event in the future,” Ah Qiang told VOA News.
Xiang told Queer Comrades after his release: "Next time they might detain me for 15 days. If that's what it takes to hold another event, then that's fine by me."
Similar demonstrations to commemorate IDAHO had also taken place in several cities across China, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou although no arrests have been reported elsewhere.
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Reader's Comments
And even more silly are those who can't differentiate the actions of the government and that of culture .
Homosexuality is ild say more evolved in China than what the outside world like to thinks...
These western style marches is a joke.
This boy probably watches too much western tv .
He ought to pay more attention in looking after his mentally ill mother.
I am sure he will be the centre of attention for the 12 days he's in there .
@madeasia: For a guy who lists 'personality' as his 'best attribute', I'm offended by your condescension. The only thing silly here is your sensibilities being offended by a fellow countryman having both the courage and the self-respect to openly ask others to respect LGBT, including you. Perhaps you would feel more comfortable and less prone to irritation if you stepped back into your closet.
Personally, I think it's great that Xiang is doing this, it just shows that when a new generation rolls forward, different minds will eventually make up the "new" country, and most likely usher in a new government.
Please join the Human Rights Conference at the 3rd Asia Pacific Outgames in Darwin NT Australia.
STRENGTH THROUGH TOGETHERNESS
www.darwinoutgames.com.au
When I came out, I too wanted to change the world I lived in .. Orange County, CA .. "The OC" (For you who watched the TV show will understand that reference) and hated the way I and my BF were treated by people there. I had no way of understanding just how good I had it until later in life as I traveled the globe and am privileged to have loved guys from other countries who came to the U.S. to escape situations that still haunt me to this day.
Arrests at Stonewall began our movement, Maybe Hexi & a amazing boy will start a movement there. Marches maybe a western thing ... Oh wait a minute .. I remember one brave man who stood in front of a 4 TANKS in Tiananmen Square on June 4th, 1989 (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d8/Tianasquare.jpg). I never found out who that man was .. But I never forgot him.
Xiaohan .. One man CAN make a difference. Thank you for your courage.
As for the TIANANMEN EVENT that you're all so fond of quoting , that lot have grown up and those who " fled " ,many are dying to return home .
China doesn't want to be a superpower and to be more precise she doesn't even care , its always the westerners love of labelling ( incld homosexuality ) that china is regarded as such ...
Solve your own , countless and endless issues first and don't meddle.
China and her people knows what's best for themselves .
Good for Xiaohan. An inspiring light in the darkness.
do not realize this man's actions could make there ever day life in
the long run better. It is not just a China thing to want to have
equality it reverberates thru out all gay cultures in all countries.
When you travel, watch tv and use the internet, "issues" as you
call them are inherent to all gay people. Xiaohan and his friends
get it. So, sad to find someone who demeans them and other
gay people in the world and in the long run the "someone" benefits
from there speaking up for IDAHO. If you cannot say something
good about someone or something it is probably best not to say
anything a all.
The many , many "gays " in china as you would like to term it are very well and leading happy , contented lives and with active and fulfilling sex lives too.
Thank you but no thank you for your insincere , ignorant and erroneous concerns .
"That the huge majority don't even bother and a huge part of the minority don't want it and most of the rest are just ...well curious ."
And yet here you are, the minority preaching choir to the majority.
"Solve your own , countless and endless issues first and don't meddle."
And once again, here you are!
Glass house my friend, glass house, you shouldn't throw stones. If you can't response in a civil way, please don't bother, the rest of us can live without it.
At 45. I am Sure you are all dialed-in the Millennials of today's China. Oh .. Millennial's (Gen Y's) are guys 1/2 your age.
You know them .."The many , many "gays " in china .... leading happy , contented lives and with active and fulfilling sex lives too" that you seem to speak for.
You are yourself probably the most narrow and hubris of them all. Speaking for a community I am willing to bet you are not, nor ever have been, a part of.
As for the Tiananmen Square comment .. one of the instances that haunt me is the story told to me by someone who survived it. Those who "Fled" as you so flippantly put it .. also "Bled" for it. You live in a China that they changed. You ability to be a A**hole on here is a direct benefit of that. So, until you can say you loved someone who's body & mind bear the scars of that incident .. don't ever make light of that where I can see it.
I am one those "Predictable, well meaning foreigners" who DOES know many more of "That the huge majority don't even bother and a huge part of the minority don't want it and most of the rest are just ...well curious" .. and how can this be??!! Because I live in San Francisco where they come to visit, study, live & Love. I do know them, maybe you should too before you make the statements you do.
Post a face picture @madeasia .. if you speak for them, at the very least you should show them who YOU are.
To say "China and her people knows what's best for themselves" itself sounds like a type of hubris to me. Equating "China" with what the people actually want, is a total nonsense.
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