Homosexuality in China: Passions of the “Cut Sleeve"

He would rather cut the sleeve of his sleeping partner, than wake him up

A friend of mine in China who has lived there for over forty years, is married to a local Chinese; they have kids, now adults and living in the west. I don’t want to identify them, so I’ll call the couple Westy and Zhong. Westy tells me that one of their kids is gay. Westy has no problem with this, but Zhong does. Zhong has even been to visit the gay one in the west, to try to come to terms with their sexuality, but remains very much anti. Very upset by the gayness of their kid. Which upset in turn upsets Westy.

I mention to Westy that  China has traditionally been a very safe space for homosexuality, very tolerant.  That it’s only in recent times — a hundred years or so — that China frowned on homosexuality.

I tell Westy the story of a mate of mine, a gay Aussie guy, who’d lived in Shanghai and was now in Taipei. I spoke to him one night in a Taipei pub.He told me that even though homosexuality is legal in Australia, and is illegal in China, he had a better amd easier time as a gay man in China than he’d had in Australia. (At the time Australia still had “poofter bashing” going on).

I should have stressed this more to Westy: not just that China has long been fine with homosexuality. But also that it was only after the western missionaries came to China, and taught about the “evils” of homosexuality, that China changed. Therefore Zhong, a China patriot, ought to take that on board and ought to view the anti-gay thing as being part of western-Christian imperialism (as it is!) and the pro-gay thing as being traditionally Chinese. 

It reminded me of the book that I bought a while back, but had forgotten about: “Passions of the Cut Sleeve”, by Bret Hinsch. I should have told Westy about this.  

Here’s a clip from the Introduction: 

Homosexuality in China dates back to “at least the Bronze Age” 

It’s China that’s been at the forefront of being tolerant to gays, all this time! But China, Beijing, have gone the other way. Because the CCP bought into the moral rectitude of Christian missionaries. 

Oh, the Irony! 

Westy”s partner, Zhong, ought to become truly traditional Chinese themself and go full-on pro-gay.

Become fully traditional Chinese. Come out! Get with the passion! Cut the sleeve!