A local TV news report in Qingdao, northeast China has unwittingly made a microblogging celebrity of crossdresser Da Xige.

On Sunday a fire at Da Xige’s home was reported on QTV. The report, which included an interview with Da Xige dressed in feminine attire, was followed a quip from the news anchor in a mocking tone: 'What on earth has happened? I want to know more about this than just the fire itself'.

The next day Toudu (the Chinese YouTube) posted the clip on its Sina Weibo account (the Chinese Twitter) describing Da Xige as the 'Qingdao Freak' and a 'monster'.

But it seems that both media companies drastically misjudged their audiences, who responded to the post with criticism. Most of the hundreds of comments (942 when this article was written) to the original post are supportive of Da Xige, demanding apologies on his behalf and that the video clip is taken down.

Kagecat scorned the media for 'making fun of someone else for their own happiness'. Love-UU-Xx said: 'He [Da Xige] should get the care and help, not sarcasm and ridicule!'. Another poster called for a boycott of the site for it's lack of 'compassion'. And, according to Shanghaiist, the first to report this story in English, an editorial in a newspaper in Western china also criticised the mocking tone of the original report and calls for care and love instead of jokes and humiliation. 

'Netizens' in China are increasingly vocal. Sina Weibo has more than 250 million registered users and they find that self-expression not permitted in wider society is available online, including over LGBT issues.

In November last year sit com actress Song Dandan posted on Weibo about her lesbian childhood friend who had killed herself because the girl she was in love with was forced to get married. This prompted Beijing-based LGBT rights group Common Language to appeal to straight people to post about their gay friends on Weibo to spread mainstream awareness of gay life in China. One post in response, from Yingrixing, said:

'I see them when I get home from work. Sometimes they are busy in the kitchen, sometimes they are curled up with a movie or music on, sometimes they are redecorating their place. When they aren't home they are definitely out together to watch a performance or meet friends. They pay visits to their parents or bring them home to stay. Their simple happiness has brought their initially disapproving friends around.'