>> Court Accepts Lesbian Student’s Lawsuit Over Textbook Homophobia
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Un tribunal de Pékin a accepté ce jeudi 16 juin la requête déposée par une jeune femme qui accuse le ministère de l’éducation de « discrimination » à cause de livres universitaires clairement homophobes.
Dans le manuel notamment « Santé psychologique des étudiants », publié en 2015 par la maison d’édition de l’Université du Peuple, l’une des plus prestigieuses du pays et destiné à l’ensemble des élèves d’université quelle que soit leur spécialité, l’homosexualité est ainsi présentée comme une « déviance sexuelle », au même titre que « le transsexualisme, le fétichisme, l’exhibitionnisme, le voyeurisme et le sadisme ». Et d’autres ouvrages, à destination d’étudiants et enseignants spécialisés en psychologie, présentaient des contenus similaires.
« Les livres scolaires devraient décrire l’homosexualité avec objectivité », estime Qui Bai, « je ne veux pas que la discrimination se répande dans l’université dans laquelle je vis et dans les livres que je consulte tous les jours ». Dans ces livres, l’homosexualité est présentée comme un « désordre psychologique » – alors même que, depuis 2001, gays et lesbiennes ne sont plus considérés comme des « malades mentaux ».
Après une longue bataille et plusieurs échecs, la jeune lesbienne a obtenu gain de cause. Le ministère de l’Education, accusé d’homophobie, devra se justifier devant le tribunal. Nouvelle étape vers une éventuelle correction des ouvrages incriminés et une victoire très symbolique pour cette chinoise de 21 ans : le tabou tombe petit à petit. La jeune militante, qui a longtemps subi la pression familiale et sociale, est plus que jamais convaincue par son initiative. « J’avais besoin de soutien et je n’ai trouvé personne pour m’aider. Tout ceci ne doit plus se reproduire. »
L’homosexualité a été décriminalisée en Chine en 1997. Mais les LGBT sont toujours discriminés en matière d’emploi, censurés dans les médias, et souffrent notamment d’un manque de reconnaissance civique. Pour les parents de Qui, qui ont appris sa sexualité à travers ses manifestations, estiment toutefois que leur fille est en proie au vedettariat, et qu’elle peut encore se soigner et changer d’orientation sexuelle.
Valentine Monceau
stophomophobie.org
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>> On Tuesday, the First Intermediate People’s Court of Beijing accepted the lawsuit of a 21-year-old lesbian university student against the Ministry of Education over their failure to respond to her complaint about homophobia in university textbooks.
Plaintiff Qiu Bai — a pseudonym she adopted to protect her privacy — told Sixth Tone she was incensed to see blatant homophobia printed in her books. « Textbooks should at least describe homosexuality with objectivity, » she said. « I don’t want discrimination permeating the school I live in and the materials I use every day. »
Qiu’s campaign has a long history. Early in 2014, when she was a freshman at Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, capital of southern China’s Guangdong province, looking for information about sexuality in the school library, she found that homosexuality was described as a « disorder » on page 326 of Consulting Psychology published by Guangdong Higher Education Press in 2013, and two other textbooks.
She raised the issue with publishers, censors, and the Department of Education in Guangdong province in March 2015, but her questions were ignored. Local courts refused her attempt to sue the publishers. On August 14, 2015, she sued the Ministry of Education, but during a pretrial meeting with ministry representatives in November, they persuaded her to withdraw the case, explaining that she could pursue the issue through the ministry’s complaint process. But complaint letters from more than 80 students across the nation received no response.
In April 2016, Qiu submitted a second lawsuit, which was rejected by the court on the grounds that the lack of response did not infringe her rights. On June 3, she filed the current lawsuit, stating « as a current university student, the plaintiff has a direct interest in the textbook materials. » This time, Qiu requested that the Ministry of Education recall all textbooks with an erroneous description of homosexuality, and make a statement on the issue.
Textbook descriptions of homosexuality as a « disorder » persist despite homosexuality being removed from the Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders in 2001. « These books can be easily found in the library, » Qiu said. « Last year, even the professional textbooks for examinations to become a licensed counselor were wrong. »
The spokesman of Gay and Lesbian Campus Association of China, who goes by the name « Dou Dou, » told Sixth Tone, « Textbooks, together with film censorship, negative media coverage, and bullying, strengthen people’s perceptions that homosexuality is wrong and marginal. »
Qiu’s lawsuit is part of a concerted push from LGBT rights advocates in China against the continuing perception of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities as a form of illness or deviance. On Monday, a local court in Henan province accepted a 37-year-old man’s lawsuit against a hospital where he was forcibly committed and medicated for being gay.
The last twenty years have seen significant progress on LGBT rights in China since homosexuality was decriminalized in 1997, but issues remain with employment discrimination, media censorship, and a lack of civic recognition. Attitudes are shifting slowly. For Qiu’s parents, who learned of her sexuality through her protests, their daughter’s actions are just « seeking the limelight. »
Facing pressure from her family and society at large, Qiu has experienced depression in recent months, and sought out a psychologist for relief. « I understand why I have to persist with a definite goal,” she said. « But sometimes I feel no hope for my life. »
Qiu said her parents worry for her safety as an activist. « But they still cannot accept that I’m a lesbian, and what I advocate, » she said. « They still believe that my sexuality can be changed. »
