On Monday, Fan officially filed a lawsuit against the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) after his film ‘Mama Rainbow’ was pulled from Chinese web sites.

The Beijing-based filmmaker’s poignant film documents six Chinese mothers coming to terms with their LGBT children.

Fan hopes the suit will help call attention to ongoing efforts to keep gay people and their stories out of film and television and, more broadly, to the state's effort to silence calls for human rights.

“This is about justice," he said in a telephone interview on Wednesday. "I want to find out why they pulled my film."

"The purpose of fighting this case is, on one hand, to raise public awareness about gay groups — that they should enjoy equal rights and they deserve equal treatment," said Fan's lawyer, Wang Zhenyu.  "On the other hand, to demand SAPPRFT stop its improper control on gay subjects."

The censorship comes just weeks after Chinese authorities approved the release of ‘Seek McCartney’ a Sino-French production about a homosexual relationship.

Watch the documentary below: