this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2025
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Summary

China has intensified its crackdown on erotic fiction writers, particularly those creating danmei (gay romance/erotica), with over 50 arrests in Anhui province since June 2024.

At least 10 individuals have been sentenced, with penalties reaching up to 4.5 years in prison. Many writers published on Taiwan-based Haitang Literature, which has faced disruption.

Under China's strict laws, earning over 250,000 yuan (~$34,500) from such works can result in a life sentence, though reduced sentences are possible if profits are repaid.

Critics argue the campaign undermines freedom of expression and inflates sales figures to justify harsh punishments.

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[–] FlyingSquid 104 points 2 weeks ago

Presumably part of China's new "Less Wankies, More Tankies" policy.

[–] [email protected] 70 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

gay porn is counterrevolutionary, read theory 🙄

[–] FlyingSquid 32 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Gays of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your chains!

[–] FlyingSquid 13 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

What if they're into chains? Don't kink shame.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago

Well, I was talking about metaphorical chains, the literal ones are okay.

[–] [email protected] 69 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

If gay erotica is a threat to your way of thinking, then your way of thinking is pathetically fragile.

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[–] [email protected] 56 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Tankies boutta call every single person whos gay on this earth a capitalist pig...

[–] [email protected] 57 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Tankies don't ever show up in these threads because they know this is indefensible.

[–] affiliate 30 points 2 weeks ago

most tanky positions are indefensible. and yet, they try to defend them anyways.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 weeks ago (7 children)

Nah, they're just over at the crosspost thread: https://lemmy.ml/post/24456592

Their main point is that, as the article states, erotica is outlawed whether it's gay or not. They weren't 'arrested for writing gay erotica', they were arrested for writing erotica. Obviously that's also a controversial position, but it's a very different one to the false homophobic position implied by the headline.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 weeks ago (19 children)

That thread is fucking depressing. Glad I blocked that instance. Also the tankies are, as usually, trying to defend the CCP because they have 95% approval rates in their rigged elections, so the people, according to them, support the government, and at the same time stating that the Chinese youth is more progressive and opposes the government actions.

This are some very interesting mental gymnastics.

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[–] Seleni 9 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The law itself is homophobic…

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[–] veganpizza69 20 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

The extra sad thing is that China isn't even "tankie-socialist" anymore, much like how the Soviet Union doesn't exist anymore.

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[–] sumguyonline 45 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Does China want weird sex fetishes, because this is how you start forcing people underground into weird sex fetishes they wouldn't have otherwise been exposed to. Winnie Xi Pooh bear is absolutely out of his hot dog eating mind. Interesting to see the blowback in 3-5 yrs...

[–] werefreeatlast 15 points 2 weeks ago

But we're totally fine with this. After all, some guy tied a Japanese model at some point and now all BDSM people really like that. So I'll keep an eye for the next big thing. Both eyes probably... In the morning, 6am, before a good shower.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

What is with authoritarians being so afraid of gay people?

[–] SkunkWorkz 27 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Accepting gay people requires an open mind. An open mind can undermine an authoritarian society

[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

It's more than that. Denigration of homosexuality and transgender identity is inextricably linked with patriarchy. The means by which queer people are oppressed is tied very strongly to notions of gender hierarchy. They push biological gender essentialism and homosexuality as unnatural and dangerous specifically because it places heterosexual cisgender men in the highest social position possible. It allows them to benefit from the exploitation of women and queer people as much as possible. Queer people are less directly useful to them, and so they are generally very overtly violent and genocidal towards us. Trans people in particular are targeted as if one can change their gender, if gender is not innate, then it undermines the superiority of cisgender men over cisgender women. Men cannot biologically innately be superior if women could become men, in essence.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago

Also they arent producing fresh meat for the grinder.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago

Accepting gay people requires an open mind.

Unfortunately, this isn't true. It might be true for some number of the first people, but after that it's just another thing people learn to accept because they were told to. That's why even after homosexually become relatively accepted, you still had so much bigotry against bi people, and it's why nowadays you still have so anti-trans people - a lot of whom would call themselves "open minded" just because they are accepting of gay people.

[–] Fades 13 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

It really doesn’t have much to do with gay at all, but rather different than the norm which makes it an easy target to blame and punch down on. Hitler went after trans and gays first too, same with the fascists in power in the US today.

Quite literally a tale as old as time.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 weeks ago

No, Hitler went after communists, socialists and trade unionists first. The whole reason the nazis were given power was to destroy the Left wing which had almost overthrown the bourgeois industrialists in the years after WW1. Ernst Rohm, a gay Nazi leader, was in charge of the night of the long knives when the Nazis cleared the ghettos of communists, socialists and Jews.

Homosexuals entered the crosshairs a year later when Hitler decided his good friend Ernst was a bit too close to power, which is why homosexuality became a crime to be purged over.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago

Scapegoats.

Why address the real problems facing working people when you can just blame the gays/immigrants/women/drugs.

Anything but addressing the elephant in the room: the disparity in wealth keeps growing everyday.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

They want all that sweet juicy cock for themselves.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

The headline and the article itself are written in a bit of a weird way. From what i have read on that article and some others, 50+ were arrested, 10 of them at least had published gay erotica, but does not seem that they are targeting only people that write gay erotica. Not trying to excuse them or anything, its all pretty bad, but the headline seemed intentionally misleading once you start reading the article.

[–] TheTechnician27 30 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

I'm not sure what LGBTQ Nation is on about separating 10 people from 50, but the SCMP is pretty clear that dozens were arrested for publishing danmei. They do also mention that publishing erotic materials in general is prohibited, though.

[–] Floodedwomb 10 points 2 weeks ago

I don't think it's being intentionally disingenuous. Changing the word "arrested" to "convicted" makes the headline entirely accurate to the article.

[–] FlyingSquid 6 points 2 weeks ago
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[–] GreenKnight23 13 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

get ready folks, shit like this is going to start happening in the US.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

If they banned gay porn in the US, what would Republicans secretly beat off to?

[–] captainlezbian 5 points 2 weeks ago

We banned cocaine and they still sniff it like it's the sole source of oxygen.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago

They're already banning porn in general in red states. It's already begun.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Who's gonna be the one to crosspost this to the tankie instances?

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[–] Siegfried 9 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

I don't understand how authocracies are so popular everywhere. What is wrong with the freaking world?

[–] ynthrepic 13 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

People are increasingly relatively poor within their own societies particularly compared to the wealthy and ultra wealthy increasingly visible on the internet.

Charismatic autocrats have done a good job falsly directing blame for this to socialists. It's maddening to behold people basically cheering for their own chains.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

When liberalism fails, people look for alternatives. Historically speaking, the lower classes move towards socialism, and the owning classes adopt fascism to protect their privileged position from socialists. Apart from some important exceptions, libertarian forms of socialism generally haven't been able to prevail, while one-party states have built third-world countries into superpowers more than once, which makes for an appealing role-model, especially in countries where the system beforehand was a monarchist dictatorship or US puppet pretending to be a democracy.

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[–] veganpizza69 7 points 2 weeks ago

People are indoctrinated into being vulnerable to authoritarianism very early, it's a big part of the major religions. Now the vulnerability is being targeted with more and more serious exploits.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (13 children)

Does anyone have a primary source? I'm compiling an anti tankie document and want to steel man it but can't find it in the article.

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