ShanghaiPRIDE, China’s oldest and largest pride event, will not be held in the future. Without giving a reason, the organisers* announced to close the doors. Anonymous LGBTIQ* activists make serious accusations …

On August 13th, the ShanghaiPRIDE team published an open letter entitled “The End of the Rainbow” and announced that they would cancel all upcoming activities and not plan any future events.

The organisers did not give any information about the background that led to this decision. But like the title, the whole announcement reads like a wistful retrospective. Here are some excerpts:

“Over the past 12 years, we have worked hard to enrich the culture and diversity of this city we love so much; […] we’ve held forums to learn how to make Shanghai more vibrant and inclusive; […] we’ve always wanted to show our community that not only is nothing wrong with who we are, but that our identity and the people we love are worth celebrating.”

The call at the end to not let ourselves be defeated points to the hopelessness and helplessness of those responsible.

The ShanghaiPRIDE celebrated its 12th anniversary this year. Although the event has always been a “cat-and-mouse game” with the censors, during and shortly after this year’s ShanghaiPRIDE, which took place from June 13 to 21, there were no indications of an imminent end.

There was a relaxed atmosphere during the concluding group photos and the acceptance speech on Wechat also looked optimistically into the future: “We hope to see everyone at the ShanghaiPRIDE 2021!

Are repressions against queers increasing?

After a period of progress in the late 1990s and early 2000s (in 1997 same-sex sex was decriminalised, in 2001 homosexuality was taken off the list of mental diseases), the climate has become increasingly conservative and unpredictable in recent years.

One person, who is not part of the ShanghaiPRIDE team, told CNN that pressure from local authorities has been getting worse and worse and has recently threatened the daily lives and jobs of those responsible.

When asked by CNN, those responsible stated in a separate message: “It has been a great 12 year journey and we are honoured and proud to have undertaken this journey to raise awareness and promote diversity for the LGBTQ community”.

“The decision was a difficult one,” they added, “but we need to protect the safety of all involved.”

The head of a Chinese LGBTIQ* rights advocacy group, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of repression, knows threats and harassment from personal experience. He told CNN:

“The public can see the visible and effective aspects of our work, but they cannot imagine the difficulties we face behind the scenes. I think Shanghai Pride is no exception.”

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