Compared to only a decade ago, the visibility of LGBTQ issues in China has significantly improved. The Chinese mass media are now more likely to cover LGBTQ issues in a positive and comprehensive way, and members of the LGBTQ community are increasingly coming out and telling their life stories. In addition, in recent years community members have filed a series of lawsuits to defend their civil rights and challenge existing legal systems. After over two decades of hard work by activists and the entire LGBTQ community, there are now at least 190 LGBTQ organizations and networks across China.
However, beyond the vibrant surface, LGBTQ organizations are faced with two major problems: financial sustainability and legal status. First, due to deeply social and political stigma of homosexuality, the resources that the LGBTQ community historically have had access are scarce. The first wave of international funding on HIV/AIDS programs helped to incubate the initial batch of gay and lesbian civil society organizations (CSOs) in China, especially gay organizations working in health issues. However, the vast majority of the limited foreign funding available for the LGBTQ movement continues to be concentrated in Beijing, and donors tend to focus on supporting a select few, familiar organizations. Indeed, these organizations were the most directly affected by the implementation of China’s Law on the Management of the Activities of Overseas NGOs within China (FNGO Law), which came into effect on January 1, 2017. They and other CSOs now face potential legal risk if they accept foreign funding under the new law. And in December 2016, the Ministry of Public Security of PRC released the Guideline for Overseas NGOs and the 2017 List of Working Areas, both of which further control and regulate the activities of international NGOs in China.
