Why doesn’t our society accept homosexuals? Because in our sexual culture, fertility is regarded as the purpose of sex, ignorance as purity, ignorance as virtue, prejudice as principle. Love should be the attitude of one soul to another, not the reaction of one organ to another. — Chai Jing “Seeing”

Fortunately, this is slowly changing.

On May 24th Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalise gay marriage.

At this year’s Berlin Film Festival, “Everyday Conversation” from Taiwan won best documentary and jury Best Documentary.

It is a private, family-style documentary about director Huang Huizhen’s own dialogue with a gay mother.

Reveals the secrets that gay mothers can’t tell under the influence of abusive fathers.

In the film, we can see how gay people are accepted and how they live.

In the YouTube short film “All You Need is Love? When The World Is Gay”

When homosexuality becomes mainstream, heterosexuals are treated as “different people” in the eyes of homosexuals, who are beaten, abused and treated unfairly.

The film appeals to society and individuals to give full respect and tolerance to homosexuality. In an ideal world, homosexuality would be mentioned in the same way as heterosexuality.

Men used to decide whether women should be educated or not

White people decide whether black people can live or not

Later we all thought it was ridiculous

And now we let straight people decide whether gay people can love or not!

In fact, from ancient times to the present, China’s attitude towards homosexuality has been much milder than that of western countries, without violent confrontation or radical campaigns.

The current attitude towards homosexuality is neither encouraging nor discouraging. And most young people are tolerant and understanding of homosexuality.

But in some countries, such as Chechnya in the Russian Federal Republic, openly declaring yourself gay is tantamount to committing suicide.

More than 100 gay men have been detained in Chechnya, many of them severely abused, according to multiple media reports and human-rights groups.

Image from VICE interview video

During the exclusive interview with Vice, the contradiction between the government’s deliberate “there is no such thing” and the fear of abuse and the pain of leaving home and their families makes this truth very heavy.

The declining lesbian bar industry

In 1985, San Francisco, the “GAY capital of the world,” had almost eight full-time lesbian bars.

But in April 2015, the Lexington Bar, the last Les bar in the Mission district, closed its doors.

The 1950s and ’60s were the golden age of lesbian bars.

Even back then, lesbian bars were about community bonding, not sex.

In the words of Lexington’s owner, Lila Thirkield, “It’s small and shabby, but it’s where we belong.”

In Washington, capital of the nation’s lesbian scene, only Phase1, the longest-running lesbian bar in American history, is still struggling.

Home to one of the first African-American lesbian organizations, Sapphire Sapphos, Phase1 is more than just a bar; it’s a community center, a museum, and a historic landmark.

What began as a community meeting with other women has grown into a club of education, workshops and community discussions.

Phase1, which has been standing for 45 years, is a place where lesbians can find their own courage.

Nor is there a lesbian bar to be found in New Orleans, America’s party capital. Including The Other Side, which had been open for 35 years.

In New Orleans, “if you see two women holding hands on the street, you know they’re not from here.”

Because lesbians here don’t want to go out and be seen, they don’t want to feel excluded from the local community.

In New York, a stronghold of queer culture, the New York Mafia has a close relationship with lesbian bars.

Mafias started running lesbian bars before homosexuality was legal. At the time, lesbian bars were a refuge for lesbians.

Now, at a time of growing cultural acceptance, it seems lesbians don’t need such bars anymore.

Thanks to the Internet and the demise of the lesbian bar industry, the way lesbians find partners has changed dramatically.

Craigslist, the American equivalent of 58.com, found it particularly useful for gay people to find connections.

Coupled with the emergence of many social networking sites and apps, people’s recognition of gay culture has increased, which has replaced the single business model of lesbian bars with low profits.

Nowadays, men and women can be seen drinking and chatting in gay bars.

Pink economy

Globally, the LGBT population is estimated to be more than 400 million, with a spending power of around $3 trillion.

And the new economy generated by the consumption of LGBT people, mainly gay consumers, is called the pink economy.

China is second only to Europe and the United States, which have huge gay market values.

It is Internet companies that show goodwill and support for the LGBT community in China.

ZANK, which was launched in May 2013, has obtained 20 million yuan A round investment and 10 million Yuan B round financing from Jingwei Venture Capital and LianchuangCeyuan, an investment institution, and announced that it has over 10 million users.

Although in April this year, the live streaming app was removed due to violations of laws and regulations.

But there is no denying that the domestic pink market is being dominated by social products.

Image from Internet

In February 2014, Blued, China’s largest gay social APP, received A round of investment of 10 million YUAN from Clearstream Capital.

In October, it obtained a SERIES B financing of 30 million US dollars from DCM, an international investment institution.

In addition, douban, Weibo, Bilibili, Feizan and other websites have gay communities with different interest groups.

According to the ZANK report, by 2014, the spending power of LGBT has reached $300 billion.

However, there is no representative brand targeting LGBT people in entertainment, fashion, clothing, finance, tourism, catering, consumer goods and other fields.

LGBT people have a consumption characteristic of loyalty, which means whether they can be recognized by the same sex people and consumption is the direction to explore.

For example, LGBT people are keen on traveling, which was first reflected in the tourism industry in Europe and the United States. In China, gay people are also keen on traveling abroad.

In addition, most gay people have a keen sense of fashion, they are keen on fashion trends, and even lead fashion trends.

In addition, with the legalization of gay marriage, there are business opportunities in the wedding industry.

All of this is based on the emotional home of gay people, who can capture the feelings of the gay community, will have a place in the pink economy.

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