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Chinese erotic writer jailed for more than 10 years over gay sex scenes in novel

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Re: Chinese erotic writer jailed for more than 10 years over gay sex scenes in novel

#21

Post by akfanta »

froh wrote: post #6

The Reddit discussion said the issue was not about being gay but about being pornography, sold illegally, to minors, violating all sorts of copyright and porn related regulations. Apologies for not having a link handy from my cell phone, I'd appreciate if someone could look it up and respond with links.

Thank you. Correlation != Causation, but I guess logic doesn’t apply when it comes to anything China related discussion here. Saying that, this is still an ridiculously outdated law, 10 years sentence seems rediciculous.

Re: Chinese erotic writer jailed for more than 10 years over gay sex scenes in novel

#22

Post by ionised »

nevez wrote: post #19
metildaa wrote: post #2

Its not safe to be queer. There are broad societal protection that one loses out on the second they aren't straight acting and cis-gendered, all it takes is a shift in the political winds for governments to start rounding up any class or minority they don't like. There are "safer" places in the world to be queer, but the threat of danger and violence never goes away, even in gayborhoods like here in parts of Seattle.

Maybe that means something.

Why don't you explain it to us.

Re: Chinese erotic writer jailed for more than 10 years over gay sex scenes in novel

#23

Post by claudiawerner »

beobab wrote: post #20
claudiawerner wrote: post #8

Censorship of erotic material isn't a purely Chinese thing, other countries practice it at smaller scales. In England, various fictional artworks can be prosecuted under the Obscene Publications act, even possession of some cartoon pornography can be prosecuted under CAJA 2009 s.63. To the dismay of LGBTQ+ and sexual freedom campaigners, even possession of simulated rape pornography is illegal. That's not to say that…

I would contend that there can be harms involved even with porn that you might consider harmless; harms such as addiction, damaged relationships, objectification of partners. Porn can damage minds.

Many things (like alcohol) can be addictive and damage relationships. Who objectifies others should be a personal choice, censorship should not be performed for the purpose of protecting people from thinking in a certain way. Plenty of other information can damage minds too, can't it? Who's to decide which porn is more or less damaging, unless you support a blanket ban on all pornography? Come to think of it, even non-pornographic fiction can damage minds; films involving drug use, James Joyce's Ulysses.

Re: Chinese erotic writer jailed for more than 10 years over gay sex scenes in novel

#24

Post by n4r9 »

Illniyar wrote: post #17
metildaa wrote: post #2

Its not safe to be queer. There are broad societal protection that one loses out on the second they aren't straight acting and cis-gendered, all it takes is a shift in the political winds for governments to start rounding up any class or minority they don't like. There are "safer" places in the world to be queer, but the threat of danger and violence never goes away, even in gayborhoods like here in parts of Seattle.

That's true for every minority everywhere - for ethnic, religious and as you mentioned sexual minorities. The threat that the majority would turn the tables on you is always a future threat.

It's a matter of degree surely. There are plenty of places in the world where a straight, white Westerner can live as a minority with relatively little fear of violence. Almost none for a gay person.

Re: Chinese erotic writer jailed for more than 10 years over gay sex scenes in novel

#25

Post by Jach »

Illniyar wrote: post #17
metildaa wrote: post #2

Its not safe to be queer. There are broad societal protection that one loses out on the second they aren't straight acting and cis-gendered, all it takes is a shift in the political winds for governments to start rounding up any class or minority they don't like. There are "safer" places in the world to be queer, but the threat of danger and violence never goes away, even in gayborhoods like here in parts of Seattle.

That's true for every minority everywhere - for ethnic, religious and as you mentioned sexual minorities. The threat that the majority would turn the tables on you is always a future threat.

It's true for the smallest minority, the individual, too. The threat of a group going after you doesn't even need to come from a majority.

Re: Chinese erotic writer jailed for more than 10 years over gay sex scenes in novel

#26

Post by kubakan »

metildaa wrote: post #2

Its not safe to be queer. There are broad societal protection that one loses out on the second they aren't straight acting and cis-gendered, all it takes is a shift in the political winds for governments to start rounding up any class or minority they don't like. There are "safer" places in the world to be queer, but the threat of danger and violence never goes away, even in gayborhoods like here in parts of Seattle.

How do you explain the extremely high domestic violence rates amongst gay couples? It might be higher than Hetero couples. It seems gay is not even safe with gay.

Re: Chinese erotic writer jailed for more than 10 years over gay sex scenes in novel

#27

Post by [deleted] »

kubakan wrote: post #26
metildaa wrote: post #2

Its not safe to be queer. There are broad societal protection that one loses out on the second they aren't straight acting and cis-gendered, all it takes is a shift in the political winds for governments to start rounding up any class or minority they don't like. There are "safer" places in the world to be queer, but the threat of danger and violence never goes away, even in gayborhoods like here in parts of Seattle.

How do you explain the extremely high domestic violence rates amongst gay couples? It might be higher than Hetero couples. It seems gay is not even safe with gay.

[deleted]

Re: Chinese erotic writer jailed for more than 10 years over gay sex scenes in novel

#28

Post by AnaniasAnanas »

claudiawerner wrote: post #13
chimeracoder wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In England, various fictional artworks can be prosecuted under the Obscene Publications act, even possession of some cartoon pornography can be prosecuted under CAJA 2009 s.63. To the dismay of LGBTQ+ and sexual freedom campaigners, even possession of simulated rape pornography is illegal. The UK is hardly a touchstone of freedom of erotica. It's not just simulated rape - if you look at the full list of things cens…

I didn't reference that material because as far as I know, only the production of such pornography within the UK is illegalised, that is to say, it's still fine to possess and view it, download it etc. so long as you don't produce (or even sell?) it. Correct me if I'm wrong here, please. But yeah, there's very little room for disagreement here, England is known for its ingrained doctrines of legal moralism and legal…

Possession of certain drawings is also illegal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_status_of_drawn_pornogra...

Re: Chinese erotic writer jailed for more than 10 years over gay sex scenes in novel

#29

Post by claudiawerner »

AnaniasAnanas wrote: post #28
claudiawerner wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't reference that material because as far as I know, only the production of such pornography within the UK is illegalised, that is to say, it's still fine to possess and view it, download it etc. so long as you don't produce (or even sell?) it. Correct me if I'm wrong here, please. But yeah, there's very little room for disagreement here, England is known for its ingrained doctrines of legal moralism and legal…

Possession of certain drawings is also illegal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_status_of_drawn_pornogra...

I already mentioned that in my original comment.

Re: Chinese erotic writer jailed for more than 10 years over gay sex scenes in novel

#30

Post by Jach »

claudiawerner wrote: post #23
beobab wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would contend that there can be harms involved even with porn that you might consider harmless; harms such as addiction, damaged relationships, objectification of partners. Porn can damage minds.

Many things (like alcohol) can be addictive and damage relationships. Who objectifies others should be a personal choice, censorship should not be performed for the purpose of protecting people from thinking in a certain way. Plenty of other information can damage minds too, can't it? Who's to decide which porn is more or less damaging, unless you support a blanket ban on all pornography? Come to think of it, even no…

> Who's to decide which porn is more or less damaging

Or just what is meant by 'damage'? Discourse here is unlikely to be a friendly academic discussion on the meaning of words, but instead another instance of the eternal question "Who? Whom?"

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