Public outcry prompted a school in South China to remove a classroom display explaining the ‘harms of homosexuality this week’.
Hengxian No.2 High School in the Guangxi removed the poster, which was intended to prevent HIV, this week, an employee told Global Times.
Photos widely shared on the internet show the poster’s ‘harms of sexuality’ column.
It explained how homosexuality allegedly goes against the laws of nature. The classroom poster also claimed homosexuals are mentally unstable, with a higher risk of suicide or harming others.
It also lists LGBT people as a threat to ’normal’ society. What’s more, it said homosexuals have a shorter life span. Finally, they are more vulnerable to addiction due to a ’spiritual void’, the classroom poster claims.
‘I cannot imagine how LGBT students at this school feel after seeing this’ one user wrote on Weibo. ‘I hope my LGBT friends will never see or hear words like these’ they also said.
A school in Hunan province, meanwhile, this week launched an ‘LGBT+ anti-discrimination wall’.
A Hunan middle school set up an LGBT+ “anti-discrimination wall” where students could sign their names & leave messages. “We believe all love deserves respect. No matter the nationality or region, no matter the identity…” One scribble: “I want to go to Taiwan to get married” pic.twitter.com/N05heUBK4f
— Darius Longarino 龙大瑞 (@DariusLongarino) July 3, 2019
LGBTI life in a Chinese classroom
China legalized gay sex in 1997 and removed it from the list of mental illnesses in 2001.
But, in a conservative and family-orientated society, many LGBTI Chinese live in the closet. Same-sex marriage is also illegal.
About 85% of LGBTQ students responding to a survey in China reported depression.
Activists in China warn that harsh censorship laws continue to impact the population’s visibility.
China’s Netcasting Service Association (CNSA) officially banned LGBT content from China’s internet in June 2017.
CNSA labeled homosexuality ‘abnormal sexual behavior’.
This year, China has also made the headlines for censoring LGBTI scenes from Bohemian Rhapsody and Game of Thrones.