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An advertisement appearing to feature a same-sex couple in China has been praised by the LGBTQ community for its rare portrayal of gay relationships in the tightly-censored country.<\/p>\n
China decriminalised homosexuality in 1997 but same-sex marriage remains illegal and recent years have seen a crackdown on LGBTQ activists and the wider gay community — including on films and social media content.<\/p>\n
The 23-second ad by Tmall — an e-commerce platform owned by tech giant Alibaba — shows a young man introducing another man to his family over the Lunar New Year holiday.<\/p>\n
His father looks on curiously when the newcomer, “Kelvin”, arrives at their home, and two girls giggle and exchange knowing glances.<\/p>\n
The clip ends with Kelvin accepting a serving of food from his partner’s father and calling him “Dad”.<\/p>\n
This causes the family to fall silent around the table.<\/p>\n
The video has been circulating widely on social media since Wednesday, garnering mostly supportive comments from internet users.<\/p>\n
Lovematters, a popular gay-themed account on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, thanked Tmall for supporting the LGBTQ community, and called the video “humourous and interesting” in a post shared more than 32,600 times.<\/p>\n
Raymond Phang, co-founder of LGBTQ festival Shanghai Pride, told AFP the ad was a “brilliant idea”, touching on family inclusion during an important festival.<\/p>\n
Phang said “the LGBTQ community is often not mentioned (and) has zero visibility in online content”.<\/p>\n
Duan, a member of Beijing’s LGBTQ Centre who declined to give his full name, said other companies have also used LGBTQ themes in online campaigns, including a poster by another e-commerce firm, Dangdang, showing two men holding hands.<\/p>\n
The Tmall advert is a step forward for the visibility of LGBTQ people in China, Duan added.<\/p>\n
“We are glad to see that and encourage it,” he said.<\/p>\n
In April last year, a Beijing court dismissed an appeal against recently-enforced rules by the national media watchdog which ban gay content in film and television and describe homosexuality as “abnormal”.<\/p>\n
Online marketplace Taobao — also owned by Alibaba — in 2018 shut down shops selling rainbow flags and clothing with queer phrases.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n