Two
men cuddle in this screen grab from Chinese same-sex drama "Addicted
Heroin" taken from a video uploaded on the show's official YouTube
channel. It was pulled from Chinese online video streaming websites
last week.
Story highlights
- TV shows shouldn't include gay relationships, affairs, one-night stands and underage love
- Move comes after popular gay online drama was banned
- Latest example of what appears to be a government campaign for stricter morality
Beijing (CNN)Chinese
censors say television shows shouldn't include story lines involving
gay relationships, plus other topics that "exaggerate the dark side of
society," according to new guidelines.
The eight-page document
on "vulgar, immoral and unhealthy content" posted on the website of the
China Television Drama Production Industry Association, was dated
December 31 but was widely reported in Chinese state media this week.
It comes after a popular same-sex drama "Addicted Heroin" was pulled from online video streaming websites last week, unleashing an uproar on social media. The show can now only be viewed on YouTube, which is blocked in China.
As well as homosexuality, the guidelines deemed extramarital affairs, one-night stands and underage love off limits.
"No
television drama shall show abnormal sexual relationships and
behaviors, such as incest, same-sex relationships, sexual perversion,
sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual violence, and so on," the
regulations state.
The
document also listed a wide range of topics forbidden on TV, including
those that might damage the country's image, promote lavish lifestyles,
undermine national unity and illustrate feudalism and superstitions.
Morality campaign?
It's
the latest example of what appears to be a government campaign for
stricter morality in China and greater control over public life.
The
Shanghai Auto Show banned "car babes" -- scantily clad models who in
previous years had posed provocatively on car hoods to draw crowds --
while a major cosplay convention said it would levy a fine of $800 on women who reveal "more than two centimeters of cleavage."
And
in December 2014, government censors pulled a TV show set in the Tang
Dynasty off air for the ample bosoms it featured. It later re-appeared
with the cleavage blurred out.
The
TV show "The Empress of China" depicted the life of the only woman to
rule China. Her reign was during the seventh century Tang dynasty --
when an ample female bosom was the prevailing aesthetic
When the series returned to air, the cleavage was gone. Instead, viewers
saw crudely edited scenes where women were only shown in close-up to
avoid revealing their chests.
CNN's
calls to the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film
and Television (SAPPRFT) the country's top broadcasting and publishing
regulator went unanswered.
Gay community upset
The
new policy has angered China's gay community, which says the guidelines
are out of step with a country beginning to accept same-sex
relationships.
Chen Qiuyan, a gay activist and college student, told CNN she was "absolutely furious" after reading the new rule. She has sued China's Ministry of Education over how textbooks portray homosexuality.
Chinese
student Chen Qiuyan holds a rainbow flag, protesting in front of an
intermediate court in southern China city Guangzhou on July 29, 2015.
"Who are these high-up creeps identifying same-sex (relationships) as abnormal? They have no common sense," she said.
In
2001, homosexuality was removed from an official list of mental
illnesses for clinical treatment in China. This followed a 1997 decision
to decriminalize it.
The
gay community has made strides in social acceptance in the past two
decades, with young gay and lesbian activists pushing for more rights
and recognition. But the stigma remains, with considerable family
pressure to carry on the family line.
According to a 2015 survey by U.S. research group Pew, 61% of China's population said that homosexuality was unacceptable.