representation

However, consumers and creators of queer content have found ways to thrive online through coded language or other censorship workarounds, according to Wang Shuaishuai, a lecturer at the University of Manchester who studies queer representation in Chinese media.

That tide has turned under President Xi Jinping, whose government is tightening controls on Pride events, restricting queer representation on TV and pressuring internet sites and platforms to scrub LGBTQ-friendly content.

Queer influencers have become one of the remaining bastions of LGBTQ+ representation on the Chinese internet.

Thailand’s gay-friendly culture has caught the attention of Chinese LGBTQ+ people as queer advocacy and representation faces pressure at home.

“Representation is so important. That’s one of the things that makes this really special,” DeWitt says.