Political Opportunity, Threats, Strategies of LGBT+ Student Movement in China

Abstract

The LGBT+ student movement in China started in 2006 when the first LGBT+ student group was formed. It flourished after 2012, growing from fewer than 10 groups in 2012 to over 50 by 2018. Meanwhile, Xi Jinping's presidency in 2012 marked a significant political turning point. Subsequently, the party-state tightened its control on power by suppressing civil society and civic engagement. Therefore, this political context had a substantial impact on the strategic decisions made by the LGBT+ student movement in China, requiring activists to adopt a less confrontational form of activism. This article explores the strategies adopted by the LGBT+ student movement in China between 2012 and 2022 and examines how the sociopolitical context has influenced these strategies and shaped the movement. Based on eight interviews with student activists and NGO staff, this study focusses on the evolving strategies of student groups over the last decade, categorizing this decade into three distinct phases. The first phase (2012–2015) saw a variety of advocacy rights activities taking place. In the second phase (2015–2019), education emerged as the primary strategy. Finally, the third phase (2019–2022) centered around community support, driven by the group's need for survival in the post-COVID era. I argue that although the state and universities employed soft strategies such as discipline and censorship to influence the political opportunity structure, forcing student activists to self-censor and emphasize community support over mobilization, activists still possess agency. They propel the movement forward by integrating activism into community support and everyday resistance. Theoretically, this paper contributes to the field of research on youth social movements, authoritarianism, and LGBT+ social movements by adopting a political opportunity structure framework for analyzing the structure of political assemblies and exploring how student activists, as powerless underdogs, interact with universities and the state.