Dancing With Uncertainties: Why and How Queer Civil Society in China Stays “in the Closet” to Survive under Authoritarianism

Abstract

This paper aims to contribute to the agency-oriented scholarships studying state-civil society relations in authoritarian regimes like China by looking into the relationship between the Chinese government and queer civil society in China. Due to a variety of legal uncertainties in the nation, queer civil society in China stays “in the closet” to survive in three different ways: about half of the queer civic organizations work as public health initiatives, helping the government fight against the spread if AIDs among queer population; other civic organizations focus on promoting social stability and family harmony, minimizing the advertising of queer elements in their events; student queer organizations tend to stay underground to completely hide their queer identities, while advancing queer activism in unconventional ways.