LGBTQ+ is short for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and queer/questioning. Each of these terms is used to describe sexual orientations or gender identities. Homosexuality, or same-sex relations or attraction, is on the verge of being normalized globally, but there are many countries that still do not consider LGBTQs to be a part of the typical society. The reason for this could be because of the generation gap or because older people have grown up seeing their straight parents who brought them up thinking that it is only expected for a man and a woman to get married, or your genitals that describe if you are a male or a female. Countless people have lived a lie their whole life because they were afraid to face society and accept themselves for who they were, but now, the LGBTQ+ is a vast community that wants nothing but to stand up for themselves and their rights. They have created a safe space for all those lost souls who now have a family where they belong. One of the countries that still does not openly accept LGBTQ+ is CHINA. Let's look at a few Chinese celebrities, who fought for themselves and came out as LGBTQ+.
1. Sussana Kwan
Susanna Kwan is a famous Cantonese actress and is very popular among TVBs (Television Broadcasts) and has starred in popular titles like Heart and Greed and Can’t Buy Me, Love. She married Michael Lai Siu-tin in 1982, and after eight years, she divorced her husband. She went through her self-discovering journey in these eight long years, and irrespective of what people thought about her, she decided to make a bold move to accept herself and entered into a same-sex relationship with her current girlfriend, Willy Chow.
2. Denise Ho
Denise Ho is a Cantonese pop singer and actress. She is the first Cantonese singer to openly come out as a lesbian at the age of thirty-five in Hongkong. She is a human rights activist and was boycotted by the Chinese Government. She is now actively involved in many movements for LGBTQ+ rights and is striving to make the world a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community.
3. Anthony Wong Yiu-Ming
Anthony Wong Yiu- Ming was born in Hongkong on 16th, June 1962. He is a famous Cantopop lyricist, singer, songwriter, and political rights, activist. Having faced a lot of hurdles in his life, he wrote songs that sang about finding your sexual identity. He has famous title tracks called Forbidden Colors and Forget He or She, which are now considered LGBTQ+ anthems. He disclosed in an interview that he has never tried to hide his identity and publicly stated that he was gay.
4. Gigi Chao
Gigi Chao, daughter to renowned Hong Kong billionaire and tycoon Cecil Chao and his wife Kelly Yao Wei, is a famous socialite, an activist for LGBTQ+ rights, and is the vice-chair of Cheuk Nang Holdings Limited. She started dating Sean Eav in 2009, which threw her into the spotlight. Her father could not accept her as a lesbian and offered to pay sixty five million dollars to any man who could marry her, but Gigi disapproved of this and married her partner Sean Eav in 2012, her partner of eight years and is pleased to be with her.
5. Stanley Kwan
Stanley Kwan is a famous director and producer based in Hongkong. He has also won The Best Director Award for his famous movie Rouge. Stanley came out as gay in 1996 in his documentary Yang Yin, which looks at the history of China through the viewpoint of gender roles and sexuality. Stanley is one of the very few directors who are openly gay. He did not let his homosexuality define who is and taught direction and writing to students at the City University of Hongkong.
6. Kevin Tsai
Tsai was born on 1st March 1962 in Taiwan to a wealthy family who had a shipping business. He got a Master's degree in TV Production from UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television and is also a writer who has seven published books, all bestsellers of that time. Currently, he is a Television show host and a writer and accepted his sexual orientation in a program.
7. Leslie Cheung
Leslie Chung was a very talented singer and actor based in Hongkong. He had a twenty six-year-long career during which he released over forty music albums and acted in fifty six films. Having played queer characters in movies, Leslie Cheung got recognition for these roles after 1990. He was in many relationships with females and entered into a same-sex relationship with his childhood friend Daffy Tong Hok-Tak, during his concert in 1997. He then accepted himself as bisexual and stayed with his partner till he passed away.
8. Fanxy Red (FFC- Acrush)
Fanxy Red is a famous Chinese boy band with only one twist- they are all androgynous girls who are impersonating boys. The names of this unique group member are - Lu Ke Ran, Peng Xi Chen, Lin Fan, An Jun Xi, and Min Jun Qian, all of which are girls. Since they are androgynous, they go by the Chinese word meishaonian meaning handsome youths.
9. Jin Xing
Jin Xing was a Chinese choreographer, dancer, ballerina, actress, and artistic director of a contemporary dance company in Shanghai. She declared that she was a transgender woman and always thought that if a bolt of lightning hit her in the middle of a storm, it would transform her into a woman. Regardless, she underwent sex reassignment surgery in 1995 and later went on to adopt three children and proved to the world that being transgender does not mean she cannot be a fantastic mother.
10. Han Hong
Han Hong is a songwriter and singer who is half-Han and half-Tibetan. She was born on twenty six September 1971, and just like her mother who was a singer, she too is gifted with a vibrant voice and can easily switch high pitches to soft tunes. She specializes in Chinese folk Music and takes a little inspiration from Jazz, R-N-B, and Rock and Roll. She is said to be gay because a lot of her first loves were women.
