Q Toon: Cot in the Act

Hong Kong was selected in 2017 as the host city for next year's Gay Games, the LGBTQ+ version of the Olympics complete with all the hoopla of opening ceremonies and at least three dozen sporting competitions. Founded in 1982 as the Gay Olympics (but immediately forced to change its name by the IOC), the Gay Games have been held every four years since, featuring LGBTQ+ athletes from around the world — including from countries where it would be dangerous for them to be out.

This will be the first time the Gay Games will have been held in Asia, but there are rumblings that the Games — and the athletes — may not be officially welcome.

Now, attacks on the Gay Games from local lawmakers aligned with Beijing are revealing bigotry in the financial hub, where space for promoting ideas such as equality and diversity has shrunk under China’s tightening control. Amid a crackdown enabled by a national security law introduced last year, the Hong Kong activists who would typically push back against such attacks are either behind bars or in exile.

Leading the crusade is Junius Ho, a pro-Beijing lawmaker who has called the Gay Games “disgraceful” and a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” that could violate the security law. Another lawmaker, Priscilla Leung, said activists could use the sports and cultural event to promote political causes. Peter Shiu, a member of a center-right party, said Hong Kong can “tolerate” but not promote homosexuality. ...

Attacks on the event started in June during a legislative session, when Ho said the Games would yield “dirty money.” He upped the ante last week when he cited Article 23 of China’s national security law, which states that the country should “guard against the impact of harmful culture.” Previously, Ho, who did not respond to requests for comment, had called a TV show that featured homosexual relationships “marijuana coated in sugar.” 

This comes at the same time that Chinese officials have launched a campaign against "sissy culture," trying to convince Chinese youth that heretofore popular "boy bands" are a dangerously androgynous threat to the future of godlessness, ginseng, and moo goo gai pan. Having survived the fall of the Berlin Wall, Beijing has no intention of succumbing to BTS.

In July, the Chinese messaging app WeChat blocked accounts of LGBT student clubs and university organizations in China. A month later, Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, banned a male video blogger after receiving complaints about his “feminine” behavior. A leaked document reported by SupChina, a New York-based news outlet that focuses on China, separately revealed that Shanghai University has been collecting names of LGBT students for an unclear purpose.

Why do I suspect that it's not for assembling Shanghai U's Queer Ping Pong League?