okay! so i got this pretty apt ask this morning from an anon which idk, i actually think about myself but neglect to think further on right, but idk, if anyone also thinks about this, and has a take that's nice

So firstly, I think it’s not a smart thing to do to conflate public and private companies/organizations/entities. Sure, the Chinese government does make the laws, and yes they get taxpayer money so some of your support money does go to the government, can’t deny that.

And yes we can’t totally look at the government and I don’t know, Youku, for example, separately.

But it’s good to note that public/perception change and in some way, micro activism (for more LGBT acceptance/representation in media etc.) comes as a private initiative right.

It’s a bit out of yours and my control to hope that the central governing authority and body actually like initiates the change. As with all forms of activism and hope for change a lot of things happen at ground level first.

So basically I’m saying you can just set the Chinese government aside for now even though yes them changing laws every half a year to make it more difficult for LGBT+ persons and is extremely damaging for that community.

Think of it this way: Media companies and production teams are definitely trying to make headway into more BL and GL representation and acceptance in the country, albeit with restrictions. The worse thing would be for these companies and teams to not have ANY support

The progress literally stops there. They’ll stop producing, they’ll stop fighting to have the shows reviewed again and again to get it accepted etc. They’ll stop thinking of creative ways to work within censorship, and this is scarier than anything else in modern governance.

Altho I admit this is usually not seen in China because they’re already quite careful with what they say outside in public due to censorship and consequences., so basically, So no, I don’t think it’s hypocritical or ‘wrong’ for anyone to enjoy danmei LAs coming from China.

It’s only hypocritical if I guess we start comparing them to other LGBT+ media and content and saying why China’s one is so bad etc (and vice-versa, like saying that China’s one is THE epitome of representation), or if you support danmei but then irl are discriminatory etc

There’s nothing wrong to see content that resonates with you and makes you want to support it, that you feel clicks with you, even if the country that it comes from is anti-LGBT+. Because at the very least the production/company/cast support it genuinely

If shows like CQL/SHL/Guardian and any upcoming ones speak to you because of the plot, characterization etc., that’s totally valid. We are always looking for content that mirrors our own experience(s) right, or shows an experience that you want to have. Not a wrong/bad thing.

It’s also dangerous to blanket label a country ‘openly homophobic’ and also to classify it that way in generalization in this case because we basically eliminate and erase the efforts, progress, movements etc. however micro they may be, within the country itself.

SO I guess, do continue to support like wolong nuts and everything else in between XD HAHAHA