Chinese LGBT groups urge public support for gay Malaysian debater

Several Chinese LGBT rights groups called on netizens to support a Malaysian debater who claimed on China’s Twitter-like Weibo that he was refused by several entertainment programs and activities in China because of his openly gay identity.

LGBT Rights Advocacy China, a Chinese NGO, launched a campaign late Sunday called “Let us be your big tree,” and urged Chinese netizens to post a photo of a tree and started the hashtag of the campaign’s name to support Chen Yongkai, a debater who earned his fame in China for his previous performance on the online talk show, Qipashuo.

“Chen has no closet, but society has created a transparent closet for him,” the NGO said on its WeChat account.

The NGO’s campaign came after Chen said on his Weibo that he was gay, and was turned down by several programs and events after he uploaded several photos of him and his partner together on Weibo. Some programs he attended were temporarily cancelled.

“His admitting being gay on Weibo has improved the visibility of LGBT groups in the Chinese public, and we should support him,” Liu Yangming, a volunteer of the LGBT Rights Advocacy China, told the Global Times on Monday.

LGBT groups’ rights to speech and identity are often ignored in education and companies in China, Shen Ruiyi, another volunteer of the NGO, told the Global Times.

The NGO’s campaign won the support of several other Chinese LGBT rights groups, such as Gay Voice, on Monday, while the Weibo topic with the hashtag “Let us be your big tree” has only been viewed 40,000 times and discussed 35 times as of press time.

Liu said that the campaign has yet to achieve its desired result, but he and his organization would continue to promote LGBT rights to make a difference.