Authors of Gay-Themed Erotica Face Arrest in China
Writers specializing in danmei, a type of gay erotic fiction, are being imprisoned by Chinese authorities for up to four-and-a-half years.
As part of an ongoing crackdown against pornography, police in eastern China have been targeting writers who posted gay-themed erotic fiction online, handing down heavy fines and even sentencing authors to jail.
According to the South China Morning Post, many of those arrested had been posting stories on the Taiwanese-based fiction website Haitang Culture. They have been charged with producing, selling, or disseminating pornographic materials.
Users of the website can make money from tips or subscriptions from fans, with one of the most popular genres being danmei — a style focusing on gay romance and sex, which originated in Japanese manga and has become popular in China.
While officers in Anhui province have been carrying out the crackdown, they have reportedly been investigating and detaining people from other provinces, leading some to question whether the police are abusing their power.
Earlier this month, the news outlet Shuiping Jiyuan reported that police in Anhui have detained more than 50 writers — primarily women in their 20s — from across China since June. Thus far, the harshest sentence handed down was four-and-a-half years in prison.
Under Chinese law, writers who make more than 250,000 yuan ($34,500) from selling erotic materials can potentially face a life sentence in prison, although in practice, they can obtain lower sentences if they agree to cooperate with investigators and pay back the money.
In a social media post from October, one woman said her sister, who had been posting stories for almost 10 years under the pen name “Yunjian,” went missing in June. The woman asked readers if they could donate money to pay off a fine and reduce her sister’s prison sentence.
Two months later, a man claiming to be Yunjian’s husband said his wife had been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison and thanked readers for supporting her.
“She said, ‘I will work hard in prison and try to get out earlier. By then, I’ll thank my readers in person,'” he wrote.
Other writers have been hit with harsh fines that they have struggled to pay while at the same time having to forego medical interventions like surgical operations or cancer treatments.
Authorities have not publicly commented on the cases, but open records from the Jixi County People’s Court in Anhui show that 10 people have been sentenced for posting gay-themed erotica online.
The sentencing guidelines for those convicted of posting graphic content online have been criticized as excessively harsh, with some critics noting that sharing erotic material is more severely punished than crimes like sexual assault or fraud.
Under a 2020 ruling, erotic material that gains more than 50,000 views online or makes more than 50,000 yuan ($6,850) can be deemed a criminal offense. In 2018, a woman using the pen name “Tianyi” was imprisoned for 10 and a half years for writing a novel that sold 7,000 copies, which authorities claimed was filled with “graphic depictions of male homosexual sex.”
Beijing-based lawyer Wang Zhenyu told the Morning Post that the sentences are too severe. Wang also said the obscenity laws are vague and open to interpretation, effectively allowing local law enforcement officials to determine to what extent they’ll prosecute such violations, which can vary widely depending on location.
He said that an age-appropriate rating system, similar to the one that exists for movies, should be instituted to allow erotic literature to exist in some form, even if it’s limited to adults.
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