A Chinese erotic writer has reportedly been jailed for more than 10 years after including gay sex scenes in one of her novels.
State media reported that the writer, who uses the internet alias Tianyi, was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison by a court in Anhui province for “producing and selling pornographic materials” in her 2017 novel Occupation, which features gay sex scenes.
The author was identified with the surname Liu by state media.Tianyi’s book details an illicit affair between a teacher and a student.
According to a television station in Anhui, it allegedly included “graphic depictions of male homosexual sex scenes,” reports South China Morning Post.
Internet pornography in China has been illegal since 2002.
novelist’s jail sentence over gay sex scenes sparks outcry
Occupation is believed to have sold around 7,000 copies online.
“Those found guilty of rape get less than 10 years in jail. This writer gets 10 years.”
— Weibo user
Tianyi’s prison sentence has sparked protests on Chinese social media.
“10 years for a novel? That’s too much,” one user wrote on Weibo, reports BBC.
Another social media user noted how rapists are frequently jailed for less than 10 years in China.
“Those found guilty of rape get less than 10 years in jail. This writer gets 10 years,” the Weibo user said.
LGBT+ people have no discrimination protections in China. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
Gay sex was legalised in China in 1997.
However, LGBT+ people in the country have no discrimination protections and same-sex couples cannot adopt or marry.
China’s crackdown on LGBT+ content
The jailing of Tianyi comes amid reports of an increased crackdown on LGBT+ content by Chinese authorities over the past year.
In September, pop star Dua Lipa thanked fans for feeling “safe enough to show your pride” at her concert in Shanghai, China, after some gig-goers were reportedly removed by staff for waving rainbow flags.
Following her performance on September 12, attendees posted videos on social media, which appeared to show security guards forcibly booting out a number of fans.
In August, it was announced that Mr Gay World 2019 would no longer take place in China’s special administrative region Hong Kong.
This was reportedly because the events company was based in the People’s Republic of China and had been put under pressure by Chinese authorities.
And, in May, two LGBT activists were reportedly attacked by security guards in Beijing, China, for wearing Pride badges as part of a pro-LGBT gathering in the city.
Indonesian authorities have also clamped down on LGBT+ activities in the past year.
In October, two Indonesian men were arrested on suspicion of setting up a Facebook page that co-ordinated gay hook-ups.
Indonesian police parade a group of men arrested for holding a “gay party” in Surabaya. (JUNI KRISWANTO/AFP/Getty)
In July, two men were publicly flogged for having gay sex in Aceh.
And, in February, Indonesian authorities set up a task force to stop “the LGBT disease.”
The new task force was established by Mayor Muhammad Idris of Depok, a district in West Java with more than 1.75 million people.
According to Indonesian publication Kompas, Idris said: “Religion has agreed that LGBT [people commit] forbidden acts, but legally we will overcome this problem so as not to worsen the issue.”
The mayor added: “This is our effort to prevent LGBT because many phone calls come to the Social Service requesting to help solve the LGBT disease”.
He said that “the campaign of rejecting LGBT will be conducted by this integrated team,” which would, he explained, “coach” LGBT people.
In January, police arrested 12 trans women in Aceh, shaving their heads and forcing them to wear typically male clothing in an effort to “turn them into men.”
In 2017, Indonesian police raided nightclubs, saunas and hotel rooms on suspicion of LGBT+ activities being carried out inside.
Switzerland has voted to make homophobic and transphobic crimes punishable with up to a three year prison sentence.
The National Council voted to criminalise homophobic and transphobic acts, putting it on a par with the way the country treats racism.
The council voted 118 for and 60 against to introduce a prison sentence for homophobia and transphobia.
The initiative was put forward by councillor Mathias Reynard. (MathiasReynard/Twitter)
However, the motion still needs to be passed by the Council of States before it can become law.
National councillor Mathias Reynard, who put forward motion, posted on Twitter on September 25: “National Council accepts my parliamentary initiative against homophobia and transphobia!
“A magnificent success for human rights! Final response in December to the Council of States. # LGBT 🏳️🌈🇨🇭.”
Speaking to Shorlist, Reynard said: “The Swiss Parliament’s decision is great news because it sends the powerful message that homophobia is not an opinion; as for racism, it’s a violation of the law.”
He added: “I tabled the motion after speaking to friends of mine who have personally been victims of verbal and physical homophobic violence.
“And working on this law I found out that the Swiss case-law doesn’t punish either hate speech or incitement to hatred towards LGBT+ people. During the last few years, this loophole in the law has been pointed out several times at an international level.”
The vote has been praised by LGBT+ groups in the country, where equal marriage remains illegal.
Rene Schegg, secretary general of Pink Cross, told Swiss newspaper Le Temps: “The decision of the day is an important step. It will likely bring Switzerland back to the rankings of the International Association of LGBTI People, where our country currently ranks 22nd behind Estonia and Hungary.
“With his stage success, Mathias Reynard said now want to focus on the fight for marriage for all.”
A statement posted on Pride in London’s official Twitter account reads: “Good to see that Switzerland has strengthened the punishment for homophobia and transphobia. People who are found guilty could now get up to three years in prison.”
Another person wrote: “Fantastic news! 🏳️🌈 Well done Switzerland 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 .”
And one person said: “Just found out that Switzerland made homophobia and transphobia illegal, im so so happy this shd be the goal for all countries 🌈.”
Helen Thornton has filed a lawsuit seeking spousal survivor’s benefits. (Helen J. Thornton/Facebook)
A lesbian has filed a lawsuit accusing US authorities of denying her of spousal survivor’s benefits because her long-term partner died before same-sex marriage was legal.
Helen Thornton, from Washington state, lodged the case with LGBT+ civil rights organisation Lambda Legal, seeking the the benefits based on her relationship with her parter of 27 years, Margery Brown, who died in 2006.
Thornton claims that it is unconstitutional for the Social Security Administration (SSA) to exclude her from claiming benefits because she was unable to marry her partner before she died.
Thornton (left) and partner Margery. (Lambda Legal)
Same-sex marriage was legalised in all 50 states in the US in June 2015, following a Supreme Court decision.
“The federal government is requiring surviving same-sex partners like Helen to pass an impossible test to access the benefits that they’ve earned through a lifetime of work: they need to have been married to their loved ones, but they were barred from marrying by discriminatory laws then in existence,” said Lambda Legal counsel Peter Renn.
“We are beyond the day when the government can deny equal treatment to same-sex couples. But, by withholding these benefits, the federal government is breathing life into the same discriminatory marriage laws that the Supreme Court has already struck down.”
In the US, couples are generally required to be married for a minimum of nine months before their spies dies in order for the living partner to get survivor’s benefits.
The amount of money given in these benefits is based on the income of the deceased partner.
Do You Need Medigap Insurance Coverage At 65?
How do you approach health care & Medicare when you reach retirement age? What’s most important?
Ad by Ensurem
Thronton and Brown met at a women’s art group in 1978 and started a relationship a year later, which lasted until Brown’s death in 2006.
“Margie and I were fortunate to share 27 years of love and commitment together on this earth,” said Thornton.
“Like other committed couples, we built a life together, formed a family, and cared for each other in sickness and in health.
“Although we wanted to express our love for each other through marriage, discriminatory laws barred us from doing so before Margie’s death.”
Equal marriage was legalised in the US in June 2015. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
She added: “Now, in my retirement years, I’m barred from receiving the same benefits as other widows, even though Margie and I both worked hard and paid into the social security system with every paycheck.”
Thornton, 63, is semi-retired and has a job looking after animals to supplement her income.
She applied for survivor’s benefits in 2015, when she was 60 years old, which is the age surviving spouses are eligible to receive the benefit.
However, the SSA rejected her application because the couple were not married at the time of Brown’s death.
“Same-sex couples who weren’t able to marry faced discrimination throughout their lives, and now the surviving partner faces it all over again, after their loved one has died. It’s like pouring salt in a wound. Denied equality in life, they are denied equality once again in death,” Renn added.
Local media have reported on Moore’s death, with some outlets referring to the woman by the name she was given at birth (commonly known as ‘deadnaming’).
Police are reportedly treating Moore’s death as murder. However, it is not yet clear if they are investigating it as a hate crime.
The overwhelming majority of known trans murder victims in the US this year have been trans women of colour.
Police are reportedly treating Moore’s death as murder. (Londonn Moore/Facebook)
“When it comes to murder, murder is murder,” North Port Police Department officer Joshua Taylor told NBC. “Whether it’s a hate crime or not, you’re going to pay that price.”
Just a week before her death, Moore had posted on Facebook: “Ima give this whole love thing one more chance. Wish me luck.”
Tucker, who had celebrated her 30th birthday on September 2, was found with a gunshot wound by police at about 1am on a highway in the Hunting Park area of the city, according to local media reports.
She was taken to Temple University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Police are reportedly looking for a suspect in connection with the murder.
At the time of Tucker’s death, the Human Rights Campaign reported that 16 of the 19 known killings of trans people in the US in 2018 have been women of colour.
Shantee Tucker was found dead on September 5. (Shantee Tucker/Facebook)
These Women Of Various Skin Tones Are Raving About Savage X Fenty.
See What They Have To Say About The Hottest Styles!
Ad by Savage X Fenty
Dejanay L. Stanton, a 24-year-old woman, was found on a street in Chicago on Thursday morning with a gunshot wound to the head, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The other woman, 18-year-old Vontashia Bell, was found in a street in Shreveport, Louisiana, with gunshot wounds to the chest and wrist.
Sarah McBride, national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, recently told PinkNews: “There is a growing epidemic of violence targeting transgender people, particularly Black transgender women.
“This is an urgent crisis that is a by-product of the toxic and violent combination of transphobia, misogyny, and racism. As a society, our policymakers and lawmakers must do more to combat this violence.”
More than half (51 percent) of trans male teenagers have attempted suicide in the past year, according to new research.
The new study by researchers at the University of Arizona also found that more than four in 10 (42 percent) of non-binary adolescents and 30 percent of trans female teens had attempted suicide.
The new research has found trans and non-binary teenagers are significantly more likely to attempt suicide. (Getty)
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among teenagers and young adults aged between 10 and 34 in the US.
The latest data revealed that transgender and non-binary teens—aged between 11 and 19—are at a significantly greater risk of attempting suicide than their peers who are cisgender, meaning
Nearly two in 10 (18 percent) of cis female teens, and 10 percent of cis male adolescents, had tried to end their lives, according to the study.
Russ Toomey, an associate professor at the University of Arizona, who led the research, based his findings on an analysis of data from the Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviors survey—a national survey of 120,617 adolescents in the US.
The survey, carried out between 2012 and 2015, included data from 202 transgender teenagers, 70 per cent of which were trans male adolescents.
Previous research has show that an alarming percentage of transgender people have attempted suicide. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Commenting on his research, Toomey said: “Transmasculine youth and non-binary youth are the two populations that often are the least focused on in the transgender community.
“So really reorganising our efforts to focus in and try to really understand and learn about the experiences of these youth is critical.”
Past research has shown that a shocking proportion of transgender people have attempted suicide.
In 2016, a study by the NationalCentre for Transgender Equality found that 40 percent of transgender people had tried to end their lives.
Other studies have also revealed that lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) young people are more likely to attempt suicide than their straight counterparts.
A 2016 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) young people are almost three times as likely to seriously contemplate suicide than heterosexual youths.
It also found that LGB youth were five times more likely to have attempted suicide than heterosexual young people.
If you are in the US and are having suicidal thoughts, suffering from anxiety or depression, or just want to talk, call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255. If you are in the UK, you can contact the Samaritans on 116 123.
Fillmaker Romas Zabarauskas (left) and LGBT+ activists handing out free Pride flags in Vilnius on Friday. (Arcana Femina)
PinkNews Daily LGBT+ Newsletter
Two Lithuanians have responded defiantly to a series of arson attacks against the LGBT+ community in Vilnius—by buying 500 rainbow flags to wave around the city.
Filmmaker Romas Zabarauskas and LGBT+ rights activist Tomaš Ilja decided to fundraise thousands of euros to buy the flags after arsonists targeted the office of the Lithuanian Gay League (LGL)—the country’s only non-governmental organisation representing LGBT+ people—on August 10.
And, on September 2, arsonists set fire to the corridor outside Zabarauskas’ flat on fire in a possible homophobic incident, after the director hung a Pride flag on his balcony.
LGBT+ activists with Pride flags in Vilnius. (Arcana Femina)
Speaking to PinkNews, Zabarauskas said that, following the arson attack outside his flat, a police offer had told him to take down his Pride flag.
“The next morning, after the initial shock, I realised that not only I won’t take the flag down, I need to do something more to send a strong message and not to give in into fear,” he explained.
“So I made this story public, emailed some people and we quickly raised enough funds to buy 500 flags.”
Zabarauskas said that supporters of his and Ilja’s initiative are posting their own Pride flags on social media using the hashtag #LGBTdraugiškaLietuva, which means “LGBT+ friendly Lithuania.”
The first 400 Pride flags were handed out for free to LGBT+ supporters at the gay-friendly Paviljonas jazz club on Friday in the city.
A further 100 flags will be distributed for free during the queer festival Kreivės in Vilnius.
The initiative has been supported by politicians across the city, including Vilnius city councillor Mark Adam Harold, who attended the event on Friday and hung the Pride flag on the Vilnius City Municipality building. He has also supported the campaign on social media.
Zabarauskas also said that Vilnius city mayor Remigijus Šimašius has expressed support for the campaign. PinkNews has contacted Šimašius for comment.
Pride flags hanging from a building in Vilnius. (rzabarauskas/Twitter)
Zabarauskas continued: “Taking down a flag and hiding your true identity never makes you feel safer. Freedom of expression and acceptance do. I’m currently surrounded by rainbow flags—I can see one in each of the three buildings around mine. That makes me feel great.”
“Lithuania is a free country and we’ll defend our freedom with Pride,” he added.
LGBT+ rights activist Tomaš Ilja. (Arcana Femina)
“I care about LGBT+ visibility. I truly think it’s the main way to go if we want to achieve equality in our region. And it feels better to live your true life.”
Zabarauskas explained that he could not be certain that the arson attack outside his flat was a homophobic incident, but added that it “deserves to be investigated.”
Mark Adam Harold hanging a Pride flag on the side of the Vilnius City Municipality building. (rzabarauskas/Twitter)
He said, however, that the attack on LGL was “clearly a hate crime.”
PinkNews has contacted the police in Vilnius over the arson attack on LGL, and was directed to the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania, which has also been contacted for comment.
Shantee Tucker is the 19th reported case of a trans person being killed in the US so far in 2018. (Shantee Tucker/Facebook)
A black trans women shot dead in Philadelphia on Wednesday morning has become the 19th reported case of a trans person being killed in the US so far this year.
Shantee Tucker, who had celebrated her 30th birthday on Sunday (September 2), was found suffering from a gunshot wound by police at about 1am on a highway in the Hunting Park area of the city, according to local media reports.
She was taken to Temple University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.Police are reportedly looking for a suspect in connection with the murder.
According to local magazinePhiladelphia, a police report state that Tucker had been arguing with an unidentified person or persons in a black Ford truck, who then started shooting at Tucker.
Philadelphia Police Department are appealing for any witnesses to contact the Homicide Unit on 215-686-3334.
Friends have paid tribute to Tucker on social media.
One friend, Samantha Jo Dato, wrote on Facebook: “R.I.P Shantee Tucker I was just on your live checking in on your birthday. May you forever live in our hearts and justice be swift and ruthless.
“This is so close to home Philly Stay Strong and wrap one another in love.”
Another friend, Tameer Harris, posted on Facebook: “Omg I can’t believe the news I just got R.I.P Shante !! you was really like another big sister to me!”
Harris added: “I really can’t even believe this phone call I got ❤️❤️❤️ this morning I woke up to a confirmation that I can’t even stomach to believe 😔 May you Rest In Peace baby 💋 I Love You So Much!”
Sarah McBride, national press secretary of the Human Rights Campaign, told PinkNews: “There is a growing epidemic of violence targeting transgender people, particularly Black transgender women.
“This is an urgent crisis that is a by-product of the toxic and violent combination of transphobia, misogyny, and racism. As a society, our policymakers and lawmakers must do more to combat this violence.
“Our hearts go out to the family—both blood and chosen—of Shantee Tucker, and we must never forget that behind the headlines was a real person whose life of love, hopes and dreams was tragically cut short.”
Dejanay L. Stanton (left) and Vontashia Bell were both found dead on August 30. (Facebook)
Dejanay L. Stanton, a 24-year-old woman, was found on a street in Chicago on Thursday morning with a gunshot wound to the head, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The other woman, 18-year-old Vontashia Bell, was also found in a street in Shreveport, Louisiana, with gunshot wounds to the chest and wrist.
Born on May 21, 1923, the pastor marched at early gay rights protests, years before the Stonewall Riots in 1969.Wood reportedly came out as gay to the public when his article titled “Spiritual Exercises” was published in a gay magazine, showing him photographed in a clerical collar.
He published his groundbreaking book Christ and the Homosexual in 1960, which called for church-approved equal marriage and for Christian clergy to welcome gay people.
Wood wrote that the “saving message of Christ and the freely flowing grace of God are as much for the homosexual as the heterosexual,” adding that “the church must minister equally to both; that the demands of Christ apply to both; that both are capable of being moral, as well as immoral and amoral.”
In 1960, Wood was honoured with an Award of Merit from The Mattachine Society, an early gay rights group.
Wood was also known to have carried out same-sex marriage ceremonies many years before it was enshrined in law across the entirety of the US in 2015.
Wood advocated for equal marriage. (BORIS HORVAT/AFP/Getty)
In his younger years, Wood studied as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, and went on to be enlisted as a soldier during World War II.
He was injured during the invasion of Italy and honourably discharged for his efforts.
In 1962, Wood met his long-term partner, Hugh M. Coulter, an artist and cowboy, who was also a World War II veteran.
The pair met in a gay leather bar in Manhattan.
Wood marched at gay rights protests, years before the Stonewall Riots in 1969. (Creative Commons)
Wood and Coulter were also present at the country’s first gay picket line in 1965, reportedly protesting outside the Civil Service Building after it had been revealed that the head of the Civil Service Department said it would not employee gay people.
The couple spent 27 years together until Coulter’s death in 1989 and each wore a gold wedding ring.
In 2001, Wood was honoured as a gay pioneer by the Christian Association at the University of Pennsylvania.
And, in 2004, the United Church of Christ Coalition of LGBT Concern gave him its pioneer award.
New research suggests that LGBT+ people want companies to implement support services, instead of just sponsoring Pride events or using the rainbow flag in their marketing.
The latest research by YouGov indicates that queer people would prefer businesses to actively implement networks that will support LGBT+ staff and customers over actions such as paying to have a float at a Pride parade.
The study of 1,711 adults in the UK—136 of whom were LGBT+—revealed that nearly three quarters of LGBT+ people said they would feel “more positive” if companies introduced services or policies to support their LGBT+ customers.In comparison, half of LGBT+ allies, and more than one third (36 percent) of the general British population, said they felt this way.
Two thirds of LGBT+ people also said they would feel more positive if companies introduced policies to support their LBGT+ colleagues, compared to 48 percent of LGBT+ supporters, and more than one third (34 percent) of the general population.
Watch PinkNews
video playing
Gay son takes parents to Pride for first time
19/07/18
Photo series highlights LGBT+ activists in…
04/07/18
Black Pride: Queer activists of colour on…
03/07/18
LGBTQ female YouTubers share what…
28/06/18
First ever Pride in Antarctica
20/06/18
However, a lower proportion—65 percent—of LGBT+ respondents said they would feel happier if their company sponsored or took part in a Pride event.
And nearly six in 10 (59 percent) of LGBT+ people surveyed said that they would feel more positive if companies used the rainbow flag in their marketing to show support for the LGBT+ community.
Chantel Le Carpentier, a researcher who carried out the survey for YouGov, told PinkNews: “Our data shows that while the majority of LGBT+ people support brands using the rainbow pride flag in their marketing to show their support, a greater number would be more impressed by a company that introduced policies actively supporting LGBT+ employees or customers.
“This is certainly something crucial for brands to consider when it comes to drawing up their marketing plans for the next Pride season, and of course in the coming year ahead.”
Similarly to LGBT+ respondents, a lower percentage of respondents who said they were supporters of gay rights, or were part of the general population, said that they would feel more positively about businesses sponsoring a Pride event or using the rainbow flag for marketing purposes.
Drag Queens Crystal Couture (right) and Domini (left) pose for a photo with British Airways staff at Brighton Pride in August. (Tim P. Whitby/Tim P. Whitby/Getty)
Commenting on the results, Sam Bjorn, a spokesperson from Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants, which marched at Pride in London and Brighton Pride this year, told PinkNews: “Companies need to do more for LGBT+ employees than marching in Pride or using the rainbow flag in their advertising.
“More important are the policies and practices that organisations have and how they affect all LGBT+ people and all people who face persecution and oppression that was once targeted at us.”
Bjorn also criticised companies, including British Airways and private security company Serco, for using “Pride to show how tolerant they are while remaining complicit in the violent persecution of migrants, including LGBT+ people fleeing persecution.”
The USA’s most highly-rated and adventurous road trips, according to global travelers.
Ad by booking.com
The exterior of Costa coffee store changes it’s logo to include the Pride colours in the run up to Pride in London in July. ( Leon Neal/Getty)
More than 400 companies sponsored or took part in Pride in London’s parade in July this year.
Tanya Compas, a youth engagement officer at UK Black Pride, told PinkNews that the new statistics were unsurprising.
She said: “To me, these results just show what I already knew, those of us from the LGBTQ+ community can see the tokenism of our identities by companies during pride month, compared to the CIS-Het [cisgender-heterosexual] population who just don’t get it or don’t care to understand, because it doesn’t affect them.”
Compas added that the results show that companies need to implement support services for LGBT+ people, highlighting an incident in November 2017 when Topshop staff reportedly barred non-binary performance artist Travis Alabanza from using the changing room of their choice.
“Look Topshop, they tend to be the first people to put rainbows outside their flagship store in Oxford Circus, but equally their changing rooms are not safe spaces for our trans and gender non-conforming siblings,” said Compas, adding: “They’re ally-ship was fake, they were and are—like many companies—chasing the pink pound.”
Compas continued: “Every year that pride comes around, I see these companies coming out with these really disingenuous campaigns including LGBTQ+ people, in ‘support’ of pride, but many often neglect Black and people of colour (POC )from their campaigns, our trans and gender non-conforming siblings, our otherwise abled siblings, our muslim siblings…They keep it safe.
“There seems to be more emphasis on our CIS-Het white ‘allies’ than people from the community itself.”
