Shanghai Pride

Shanghai Pride logo

Shanghai Pride (Chinese: 上海骄傲周; pinyin: Shànghǎi jiāo'ào zhōu) is an annual LGBT pride event that takes place in Shanghai, China. It was first held in 2009 and was significant in that it was first time a mass LGBT event has taken place in mainland China.[1][2] ShanghaiPride is now in its 6th consecutive year.

Event history

In 2009 event was held for the first time from 7 June to 13 June 2009.[1] No parade took place as the legal advice sought by the organisers indicated that Chinese authorities would not approve of a parade taking place in the city. Instead, the event was celebrated as a pride festival with cultural events.[3][4] Organizers stated that this was the first LGBT festival in China; there are individuals, mostly Chinese LGBT activists, who say that there were organized LGBT events that occurred prior to Shanghai Pride.[5]

The festival featured events such as an art exhibition and film screenings. There was also a large party hosted by a privately owned venue.[3] Three thousand people from China and other countries attended the festival.[3][6] There was also to be a raffle to raise money for the Chiheng Foundation AIDS Orphans project.[2]

In 2010 the event was held during October, directly following the closing days of the Shanghai Expo, over a 3-week period.

In 2011 the event was again held during October, this time in over 9 days.

For the 2012 event, the organisers have announced that it will move back to June and be held over 9 days.

Organization development

The festival is organised by volunteers from the Shanghai LGBT community. In its conception in 2009, the event planning, partnerships and execution was led by two moderators, American women Tiffany Lemay and Hannah Miller, who had resided in Shanghai for several years.[3] Their status as outsiders created an advantage to hosting the festival, and reduced the potential for government interference.[3] Miller, a lesbian living in the city since 2001, views Shanghai as "undoubtedly China's most liberal and progressive city", which is thus the reasoning for them hosting the festival in the city.[1] Lemay said: ‘…last year, we saw the Beijing Olympics described as “China’s coming out” party. Now China is really coming out - this time from the closet’.[2]

In 2010, with the event now established, there was greater collaboration with more local LGBT groups and other organisations. This has continued throughout the event planning in 2011 and 2012.

Other China Pride Events

In 2010 there was an informal JingPride held over one day in June. In 2011 this was grown into a weekend event. It is unknown whether this event will continue in 2012.

Language and ethnic demographics

The 2009 Shanghai Pride event was only publicized in English, and its website was only in English. Most of the organizers were White people who originated from Western countries and were of the middle class, and therefore most of the participants were from the same demographic. One reason why the 2009 event had these demographics was because the working language of the Shanghai LGBT Group was English; foreign expatriates had established the groups. In addition, the publicity was only in English to avoid causing the Chinese government to enact additional restrictions or control.[7]

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 "China Comes Out With First Gay Pride". On Top Magazine. 2009-06-06. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
  2. 1 2 3 Fag Hag, Shanghai (2009-06-06). "Eye on Gay Shanghai: Mainland China's 1st Pride event". Shanghaiist. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Hogg, Chris (2009-06-06). "Shanghai to show pride with gay festival". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
  4. ↑ "China's first gay pride festival pushes envelope". Australia Network News. 2009-06-14. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  5. ↑ Bao, Hongwei, p. 98.
  6. ↑ "China's first gay pride festival held in Shanghai". RIA Novosti. 2009-06-10. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  7. ↑ Bao, Hongwei, p. 106.

External links

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