China, like most places in the world, is not a good place to be LGBT. This is especially true when it comes to finding and maintaining stable and satisfying work. In China, LGBT people face high levels of social stigma, which manifests itself by forcing LGBT people to remain in the closet or endure verbal harassment at work. Other consequences may include no opportunities for promotion, abrupt dismissal, or salary reduction.
Aibai, a cultural and education center for LGBT people in Beijing, published the only survey on LGBT workplace discrimination. The results are not positive. Of the 2,161 people surveyed, only 6.29 percent report being completely open about their sexuality or gender identity at work. This is compared to 47 percent of workers in the United States. Additionally, 35.32 percent of respondents in big cities report being a victim of verbal abuse.
Although this situation is bleak, there are policy solutions available in order to reduce the discrimination that currently takes place. One solution many activists fight for is legislation, which guarantees equal protection under the law. However, after examining women’s rights and the laws passed to ensure them, we see that the law is inadequate.
It was not until the establishment of the People’s Republic in China in 1949 that discrimination against women was made illegal. Mao Zedong was a supporter of women’s rights and attempted to create a more egalitarian society by passing the New Marriage Law. One of the key goals of this law was to ensure that women were getting married out of their own free will, rather than being coerced by family. Furthermore, Article 91 of the 1954 Constitution stated that women have “equal rights with men in all areas of political, economical, cultural, social and domestic life.” In 1980, a second version of the New Marriage Law was passed, which raised the minimum age required for marriage and made obtaining a divorce much easier.
We know from multiple surveys that these laws are not a panacea. Sexist norms in Chinese society were apparently too difficult to eradicate by law alone. For example, despite laws guaranteeing equal pay, women in 1988 made 55 percent as much as men. This percentage decreased to 42 percent in 1994.[1] Furthermore, perception of women as weaker prevented most from achieving leadership, higher pay or managing positions. A 2006 All-China Federation of Trade Union (ACFTU) investigation revealed that sex discrimination is the norm in today’s workplace. This is confirmed by a Ministry of Labor study, which found that 67 percent of Chinese employers preferred male applicants explicitly, or held women back at work by prohibiting pregnancy. Similar data is confirmed again in 2010 by the All-China Women’s Federation and the National Bureau of Statistics of China, which found that 72 percent of women believed they might not be hired or promoted due to their gender.[2] In 2011, the All-China Women’s Federation found that 90 percent of Chinese women believed they had experienced gender discrimination by their employers.[3]
Therefore, it’s clear that where deeply rooted cultural stigmas exist, a law is insufficient to eradicate those stigmas. This is an important insight for LGBT activists in China. With limited resources, LGBT organizations must prioritize how they spend their time and money. While a law guaranteeing LGBT equality would certainly be a step in the right direction, it wouldn’t change the fact that LGBT children still live with parents who ridicule or deny their identities. If activists truly want to effect change in China, they should focus on anti-stigma intervention programs and other public education campaigns. In doing so, they can attack the stigma at its root and create real change.
[1] Gail Hershatter, The Gender of Memory: Rural Women and China’s Collective Past, (Berkeley, University of California Press, 2011) 455 pp.
[2] Yang Hui. Urban Women’s Gender Discrimination Issues in Employment (Women of China, 2012)
[3] Tania Branigan China: Woman Settles in First Gender Discrimination Lawsuit (The Guardian 2014).
