Apocalypse Watch: China Cancels Gay Beauty Pageant
1. For all of the party’s apparent success at maintaining, er, tight control over society, social change is putting the state in conflict with individuals:
“I feel really sad. This was going to be a very good event to show a positive image of gay people,” said Wei Xiaogang, a pageant judge and host of Queer Comrades, a popular Internet talk show on gay issues.
2. See above-mentioned “Queer Comrades, a popular Internet talk show on gay issues.” Seriously? I don’t know if the Party is winning or losing its war against individual freedom. There is evidence for both conclusions, but I tend to think that the Party is winning now, and that it will keep winning until China has its own financial meltdown. How ironic it would be if that happens because all of its much-vaunted dollar holdings plunge in value.
3. Even so, this seems like an extraordinarily subversive development: “Comrade is the slang term for gays in China.”
4. Some gay people in China also have a well-developed sense of subtle sarcasm: “I kind of saw that coming,” said one pageant organizer, referring to the authorities’ citation to obscure permitting procedures as a reason for the cancellation. And this: “I’m a bit disappointed but I can also relax now. I don’t have to be on a diet anymore.”
I’d always heard that Chinese culture was relatively tolerant of homosexuality, though I’d also known that the Party was innately hostile to individuality and sexuality. As ideology recedes, people will wonder why they can’t follow their chosen directions in life, whether those directions are carnal or spiritual.