2nd annual gay pride party delayed

• Source: Global Times
• [09:46 June 10 2010]
• Comments

By Li Xiang

Shanghai Pride will not step into the spotlight until the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai draws its curtain to a close, giving organizers of the second annual week-long affair dedicated to celebrating homosexuality more time to deliver a party bigger and better than last year.

Shanghai Pride organizers came to the decision to postpone the party after receiving pressure from the local authorities about the timing of their event this year, given the stricter security regulations implemented around the city for the six-month Expo, a Shanghai Pride insider, who asked not to be named, told the Global Times Wednesday.

"The police said that holding such a big event would be difficult with the Expo going on," he said. "Even though we were able to obtain a license for the event months ago when we started preparing for Shanghai Pride this year, we have decided to put it off because we don't want trouble with the police."

Last year, plainclothes police at Shanghai Pride venues could not help but make organizers feel anxious on their toes, something that would be best to avoid this year, given the added security precautions this year, he added.

As such, Shanghai Pride has been loosely slated to take place sometime in October or November, shortly before or after the Expo show is over on October 31, said organizers, who comprise of Chinese and foreign gay rights advocates.

The inaugural event of its kind to be held on the Chinese mainland fell last year from June 7 to 14.

Without disclosing the details of what will be included in the week-long event this year, organizers said it will be similar to the one last year, where gays, lesbians and their friends will be invited to join parties at several bars in Shanghai.

But, organizers said there is still hope for their cause.

"We want to be really prepared for the event so we can offer the perfect Pride Week to all the queers in the city," said one of the organizers of Shanghai Pride last year, and a collaborator of the event this year, who preferred to remain anonymous. "We've been planning this event since January, but having extra time should help us ensure that everything goes smoothly."

According to a police official at the Jing'an branch of the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau, who declined to disclose his name, the Expo, which will see a projected 70 million visitors during its six-month course, has put added pressure on officers to maintain order around the city.

"Security is a really important issue right now," he said. "That means that we have to clamp down on large-scale events, and increase measures by adding random checks."

Meanwhile, members of the gay community, who were looking forward to the occasion, said that they are surprised to hear that organizers had bent to pressure from officials.

"The strange thing is that many organizers of Shanghai's gay events are mostly foreign passport holders, and expatriates aren't usually so easily scared away by warnings from officials," homosexual Jérôme Billeton from France, a country, which like China does not legally recognize gay marriage, told the Global Times.

Others say that holding Shanghai Pride late this year is a real shame, and a missed opportunity for the city to show how open-minded it is.