Born in 1995, Gao Zhouyue is a Chinese artist who is often places his painting’s models against religious backgrounds, a trait he developed from his study of European murals. He is a graduate of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, considered to be China’s foremost art academy. Gao’s paintings are often mixed-media with glass, seashells, and gold foil used as accents in the work. 

Homosexuality is legal in China and authorities removed it from an official list of mental disorders in 2001. However, LBGTQ people still face prejudices and discrimination from both the public and the government. There are no anti-discrimination protections established in China’s laws for LBGTQ people Although Taiwan made same-sex marriages legal in 2019, Beijing, which considers Taiwan a separatist province, is unlikely to follow suit on the mainland in the foreseeable future.

Among the many studies on homosexuality and homoeroticism in China’s history, a 1992 study entitled “Passions of the Cut Sleeve: The Male Homosexual Tradition in China”, written by Bret Hinsch and published by the Cambridge University Press, was one that showed that homosexuality was regarded as a normal facet of life in China, prior to the emergence of Western influence from 1840 onwards. Opposition to homosexuality, according to the same study, did not become firmly established in China until the Westernization efforts of the late Qing Dynasty and its successor, the Chinese Republic, which was established in 1912.

The Qing Dynasty, the last dynasty of Imperial China, was established in 1636 and ruled the empire beginning in 1644. Beginning in 1655, the Qing courts began to use the term ji jian, meaning sodomy, to apply to homosexual intercourse. Strict obedience to the social order, which referred to relationships between husband  and wife, was emphasized. In 1740, an anti-homosexual decree, which made voluntarily homosexual intercourse between adults illegal, was spread throughout the empire. Although the effectiveness of this proclamation is unknown, it was the first time homosexuality was subject to legal prosecution in China; the punishment, actually the lightest in the Qing legal system, was a month in prison and one hundred heavy blows with a bamboo rod.

In 1912, the Qing Dynasty was toppled after a decade of agitation, revolts and uprisings. The explicit prohibition of ji jian was abolished by the succeeding provinces. However, through the Westernization efforts of the now established Republic of China, intolerance of those gay or lesbian and the idea of heteronormativity became more mainstream. During Mao Zedong’s control of China, homosexuality became in essence invisible in the country and, with the Cultural Revolution, from 1966 to 1976, homosexuals became heavily persecuted. 

In 1997, all references to homosexuality in China’s criminal law were removed, The Chinese Society of Psychiatry, the largest organization of Chinese psychiatrists, declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder in 2001; however, it still claims that a person could be conflicted or suffering from mental problems due to their sexuality. China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission, the government branch that controls all regulations of health care services, has yet to change its regulations in psychiatric facilities and textbooks; so these facilities and textbooks still consider homosexuality a mental disorder, and facilities still offer conversion therapy treatments. Transgender identity is still classified as a disorder despite laws allowing legal gender changes.