Introduction
Following a period of growth and optimism in Chinese LGBTQ rights and advocacy, the past decade has been marked by setbacks, including increased curtailment of internet access to LGBTQ-supportive social media resources and an increase in government interventions that reduced, and sometimes made illegal, activities of LGBTQ (among other) civil society organizations. At the same time, little is known about the general Chinese public’s view of LGBTQ people and their rights. In this survey, we sought to assess the general public’s attitudes toward key LGBTQ issues and to what extent official policies represent public attitudes. We surveyed the mainland Chinese public about their familiarity with and acceptance of LGBTQ people and attitudes toward policy issues such as discrimination at work, same-sex marriage, and LGBTQ people raising children.
This investigation aims to bring to light societal perspectives and foster informed discussions in areas often overlooked or underrepresented in current discourse about LGBTQ lives in mainland China. We focused on public attitudes toward LGBTQ individuals in social and personal spheres. We explored the public’s perspectives on workplace equality and campus bullying and assessed people’s attitudes toward same-sex marriage and parenting—important domains in which LGBTQ people’s legal rights are not recognized in China.
Additionally, we evaluated public expectations of media portrayal and corporate sector support of LGBTQ people. Many international corporations have explicit LGBTQ-supportive policies in other countries but are silent about these policies within mainland China and other countries where LGBTQ rights are not recognized. By assessing the Chinese public’s attitudes about media and corporate portrayals of LGBTQ people, our study provides insight into these routes to inclusivity and acceptance.