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A Brief History of ShanghaiPRIDE

Claire L. Squire ShanghaiWOWeng 2018-11-30



Our Community. Our Identity. Our Pride.


Welcome to the beginning of ShanghaiPRIDE, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. During every Pride, it is important to reflect on how far society has come in terms of LGBTQIA+ rights and equality, but also to look forward to the changes we would like to see made in the future.

 


Pride began 48 years ago, in 1970, one year after the famous Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village, New York, where members of the LGBTQIA+ community clashed violently with the police due to legalized discrimination. The riots, which spanned over three days, were some of the most prominent examples of the LGBTQIA+ community resisting police discrimination. It was a watershed moment in history and is often accredited as the start of the modern queer liberation movement.



Since Stonewall, Pride has seen many changes and transformations. Originally, Pride was solely a political demonstration to voice LGBTQIA+ demands for equal rights and protections. More and more parades and demonstrations appeared in New York and across the U.S. But it was not until 1991 that Pride began to resemble what it is today: a celebration of queer life and sexuality in addition to a political and social demonstration.


The first official Pride event took place in Shanghai in 2009. There was no parade and organizers indicated that Chinese authorities wouldn’t approve of a parade. However, the event was celebrated like a festival, with cultural events taking place all over the city. 3,000 people from all over China and the world attended the first ShanghaiPRIDE.

 


Pride in Shanghai is significantly different to Pride in the USA, but this is completely logical, not conforming to stereotypical gender identities and sexual ‘norms’ is viewed differently here than in the west. In an interview with Jay Michealson for The Daily Beast in 2017 Charlene Liu one of the founders of ShanghaiPRIDE said that in China “The main issues are acceptance and self-acceptance… Everything else is like a snowball effect.”



In China, the majority of the issues LGTBQIA+ people face, are social, rather than strictly political. 


“The family culture - being able to start a family, getting married, having children to carry on the family name - that itself is one of the biggest issues in the country. And that leads to a whole set of different issues like, do I go into a marriage of convenience, do I become a single parent, and so on.” - Charlene Liu, The Daily Beast



While Pride grows and becomes celebrated worldwide, it is important to remember its origin. Stonewall was a turning point in LGBT history because of the activism that it inspired, but it still serves as a reminder of the discrimination, violence, and brutality that LGBT people faced less than 50 years ago and that there is still a greater journey that we as a society need to undertake to ensure full equality.



While Pride grows and becomes celebrated worldwide, it is important to remember its origin. Stonewall was a turning point in LGBTQIA+ history because of the activism that it inspired. Yet it still serves as a reminder of the discrimination, violence, and brutality that the community faced less than 50 years ago, and that there is still a greater journey that we as a society need to undertake to ensure full equality.


Shanghai WOW! is going to be supporting Pride throughout ShanghaiPRIDE week, June 8th to June 18th. For more information on events, interviews and LGBTQIA+ content be sure to check in with us daily.




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