Gay Chinese stand up to police sweep of hangout

By The Associated Press
09.14.2009 3:40pm EDT

(Guangzhou, China) When the police descend on People’s Park and shoo away the gay men gathered there, the men usually scatter to avoid trouble. But recently, about 50 or so confronted five officers who began a sweep and finally forced a police retreat after a heated but nonviolent standoff.

“I told them they might not like us, but they can’t stop us from coming here,” said AIDS activist Xiao Mu, who was handing out condoms and pamphlets about safe sex when the police arrived on Aug. 25. “We have a right to be in the park.”

Though mostly ignored by state-run media, news of the incident in the southern city of Guangzhou - also known as Canton - spread quickly on the Internet and became a hot topic in gay chat forums nationwide. Some in China’s gay community see it as a sign of a new sense of empowerment and a burgeoning awareness of their rights.

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“I’ve never heard of something like this happening anywhere else,” Lu said about the Guangzhou incident. “I think what happened marks great progress for homosexuals.”

More:
http://www.365gay.com/news/gay-chinese-stand-up-to-police-sweep-of-hangout/

Now I hope they don't get swatted down like the protesters in Tiananmen Square were.

Let's hope they don't meet the same reprisals so many others have. I have little faith in that possibility, however.