Author jailed for 10 years over book with gay scenes

BEIJING: A Chinese court has sentenced an author to 10 years in prison for writing and selling a novel describing homosexual scenes.

The sentence triggered an online debate in China on whether the punishment was excessive, state media reported.

The woman author, identified only as Liu, was sent to jail last month by a court in the central Anhuion province on charges of selling “obscene” material in the book, Gongzhan.

The sentencing was done on October 31, but the news was reported by state media, including Beijing News and Global Times, only this week.

“According to Wuhu police, the book describes obscene sexual behaviour between males, and the content, which is full of perverted sexual acts like violation and abuse, was sold online several thousand times over a period of a few months,” the Global Times reported.

Liu has filed an appeal to the Intermediate People’s Court of Wuhu after the judgment, The Beijing News reported.

The report said, apart from Gongzhan, Tianyi had distributed more than 7,000 pornographic books, most of which were related to homosexuality, and gained “illegal profits” of 150,000 yuan ($21,624) at the time of the arrest. However, many netizens, including Li Yinhe, a renowned Chinese sexologist and sociologist, questioned whether the sentence was excessive. China has an estimated 70 million LGBT people.

PORNOGRAPHY IS ILLEGAL IN CHINA AND THE COUNTRY’S RESPONSE TO HOMOSEXUALITY IS COMPLICATED