Chinese grandmother called degenerate for supporting gay grandson

Activist threatens to expose blogger who made and hosted anti-gay comments

The Chinese gay community rallied Aug 20 to defend a Chinese grandmother who was criticized online as a degenerate and a prostitute after she supported her gay grandson online.

The 90-year-old woman posted a video last week in which she said she hoped the government would support her grandson if he ever wished to get married. Thousands of viewers rushed to comment on the video, some supporting the woman and her grandson, some expressing disgust and condemnation.

One blogger suggested the grandmother must have been a prostitute and was corrupted at a young age. “Lucky Steel 001,” whose blog became a forum for anti-gay posts, went on to say that “even prostitutes are better than gay people, though, because prostitutes are usually forced into this kind of corruption.”

Internet activists quickly found and posted the anonymous blogger’s workplace number online. The number — as well as a local police station — were quickly flooded with complaints.

Prominent Chinese LGBT activist Ah Qiang then threatened to reveal the homophobic posts to the blogger’s friends and colleagues if the attacks continued.

The blogger fell mostly silent later in the day Tuesday, except for one post asking for mutual understanding and an end to the phone calls.

Niko Bell

Niko Bell is a writer, editor and translator from Vancouver. He writes about sexual health, science, food and language.

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