LGBTQ+ groups, online activists and representatives of China’s art world condemn the attack on two women by 798’s security guards.
Security staff of Beijing’s 798 Art District beat two women who wore rainbow badges to support LGBTQ+ people. The video of the attack went viral on Chinese social media, but was later removed by the authorities. It shows uniformed security guards pushing one woman to the ground and punching another in the face, the Art Newspaper reports.
An activist, who was handing out badges by 798’s north gate to mark the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, said to the Global Times he had visited the women at hospital. One of them has sutures in her mouth and the other has bruises on her face.
“[The management of 798] has a right to stop illegal activity. Wearing a rainbow badge is illegal to me, and they, the homosexuals, have distorted sexual orientation—it is terrifying. God created humans as they are,” a staff member of the property management department of 798 Art District told the Global Times.
“I'm at a loss for words really. The 798 person that I know said that it was ‘malicious propaganda’, but videos clearly show two girls being beaten by security guards. The comments made by governing bodies of 798 in the Global Times are disgusting and offensive to LGBTQ groups. I think that is adding more insult to the situation,” an openly gay 798 Art District staff member said on condition of anonymity.
Subscribe to our mailing list: