If homosexuality is not a crime in China since 1998, it remains poorly considered by the plan. The author known under the pseudonym Tianyi was sentenced on October 31, to ten years in prison for having written and published a novel containing scenes of sexual acts between two men, reported the November 18, the chinese newspaper Global Times . Several tens of thousands of copies of Gonzhan – the novel in question – having been passed, the success has attracted the attention of the police of the province of Wuhu, in eastern China.

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According to the authorities, the book contains not only stories of homosexual acts but also “acts of perverted sex such as rape and abuse, between a teacher and his student. Outside of the sulphur Gongzhan , Tianyi would have sold also 7000 other books, too “pornographic”, resulting in income of 150,000 yuan, about 18,000 euros. Gold publish works indigenous homoerotic and removing more than 6,300 euros of profit, is liable to imprisonment.

“Lady Tianyi”, as nicknamed by his fans, has appealed his conviction. It is known to have written a dozen novels in the same vein. According to a young 24 year old woman interviewed by the New York Times , the contents of the book, on the contrary of what is stated in the authorities, “is not obscene.”

The chinese newspaper reports that the discussions have spread on the chinese Web. The sentence of ten years in prison has created a stir: tens of thousands of posts, according to the New York Times . On the website Weibo, the “chinese Twitter,” which brings together more than half a billion internet users, the users agree to say that ten years in prison is a sentence to be excessive, if not illegitimate. Heavier than the majority of convictions for rape, they argue. A user explained to have been a victim of rape in may 2018, to Beijing, has not resulted in more than eight months in prison for his attacker.

The sociologist and activist for LGBT rights Li Yinhe said: “The author deserves our sympathy. Of course it has violated the law, but even a sentence of one year in prison would be excessive.” Interviewed by the Global Times , Deng Xueping, an influential lawyer in Shanghai, says that this law “is based on standards that date back twenty years”.

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in recent weeks, Beijing has increased the crackdown on the “publications illegal” online, broad category, including pornography as the literature of “endangering national unity” and “disrupting social order”. The authorities have increased the monetary rewards for those who report publications “illegal”: they can now reach up to 600,000 yuan, approximately 76 000 eur.