Chinese sex parade

A parade of prostitutes and their clients aimed at naming and shaming sex workers in southern China has sparked a backlash by an unusual coalition of lawyers, academics and the All-China Women's Federation. As part of a two-month crackdown on vice in the booming city of Shenzhen, public security officers handcuffed about women and some of their male customers, dressed them in bright yellow prison tunics and hauled them through the streets. The parade, which took place on November 29, attracted large crowds of curious onlookers. Although the women tried to cover their faces with surgical masks, it was not enough to hide their identities because police revealed their names, hometowns and dates of birth while publicly sentencing them all to 15 days in prison. In a sign of the increased consciousness of individual versus social rights, police were criticised for going too far. And it is not fair - why are only sex criminals paraded in public?

By Sarah Wu. Reuters - A month after Lauren mustered the courage to tell her mother she is lesbian, the year-old Shanghai resident came out to a stranger who knocked on her door. The interaction with the receptive census taker was affirming, Lauren told Reuters, even if the handwritten note may not be reflected in the final results. Lauren asked to be identified by only her first name due to the sensitive nature of LGBT issues in China. China decriminalised homosexuality in , but activists are still fighting for the legalisation of same-sex marriage.

Since then, more than 2, same-sex couples have married. While Thailand may soon allow same-sex unions , the proposed law will not allow for same-sex marriages. Those two years, however, saw a strident pushback from groups opposed to same-sex marriage.

The decision announced by the Ministry of Public Security on Jul. Show trials and parades of counter-revolutionaries were a part of the Cultural Revolution in the late s and early 70s. For the most part, the practice of parading criminals ended in the s, and was until recently seemingly reserved for those in the sex trade.