[vc_single_image image=”2769″ image_size=”full” frame=”noframe” full_width=”no” lightbox=”yes” link_target=”_self” caption=”Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Iceland’s PM. Photo/Magnus Fröderberg” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [vc_column_text pb_margin_bottom=”no” pb_border_bottom=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]
“It will get me watching the evening news, I want to see how they introduce her.”
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[dropcap4]G[/dropcap4]ay activists in China are very excited about the forthcoming visit of Iceland’s prime minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir who is the worlds first openly gay prime minister. Sigurðardóttir and her wife of 13 years, Jónína Leósdóttir, will visit Beijing from Monday to Thursday, April 15 – 18. Many wonder how the chinese media is going to cover Leósdóttir as homosexuality is still a taboo in China.
“Will the wife be photographed together with Peng Liyuan[President Xi Jinping’s wife]?” asked a blogger on Sina Weibo, China’s biggest micro blog site.
“It will get me watching the evening news, I want to see how they introduce her,” writes Gilber1203.
“Gonna cause difficulties for the honor guard,” writes “Yuan Zhubi’s microblog”.
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Many have praised Sigurðardóttir’s courage, and are sharing their own story on the internet. “I’ve asked my daughter to learn from you and make a difference in the world. You have lived an exceptional and courageous life,” says a Chongqing blogger, who is also the mother of a lesbian, in an open letter to the PM.
In spite of the excitement the visit has sparked, people generally don’t seem to think Beijing will grant gays and lesbians equal legal rights in the near future. “At least this means our leaders are aware of the issue,” says Yu Shi, an activist at “Les Chengdu”, a Sichuan-based lesbian rights group.
Homosexuality was effectively decriminalized in China in 1997 and was removed from the official list of mental disorders in 2001.
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South China Morning Post and International Herald Tribune report.
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