Event Recap: ShanghaiPRIDE 2017 LGBTQ Groups Open Day Forum Shares Experiences
More than 200 guests attended the two sessions of this year’s ShanghaiPRIDE LGBTQ Groups Open Day Forum at Andaz Xintiandi, Shanghai on 17-June.
The theme for the first session in the morning was about family diversity. Li Yue, mediator from Rainbow Anti-Gender-Based Violence Service Center in Beijing started the session with real-world stories of domestic violence, various types of domestic violence, and ways of addressing them. Sun Wenlin, person in charge of Family Equality in Changsha, explained that the process of advocating legalization of same-sex marriage is fundamentally a conversation. He shared some strategies of such conversations and introduced what his organization has done. Gougou, a law practitioner focusing on LGBTQ rights from Rainbow Law Hotline, presented the challenges of conceiving children of single women, which were passionately discussed by the audience. Yilan Aboro, with the presence of her same-sex partner and their 3-month old daughter, shared her life stories and the joy and excitement of being a mother. Li Lin shared his story of looking for a surrogate mother and expecting to raise the child together with his same-sex partner.
The second session in the afternoon was experience-sharing by four LGBTQ groups focusing on different aspects in different regions of the country. Matthew from Mr. Milk & Her LGBTI Friends in Chengdu shared about LGBTQ literacy training for psychological consultants. He hoped to eliminate conversion therapy and to allow the LGBTQ community to receive proper psychological consultation by equipping psychological consultants with proper training. Xiaobao from Gay and Lesbian Campus Association of China shared their LGBTQ training program for primary and secondary school educators and stressed the importance of educators’ role in eliminating discrimination within the campus. Shushu from Caifan Union, Qingdao shared his story of shaping proper views towards LGBTQ in high schools in Qingdao, and the video they shot for this purpose. Ivy Wong from Community Business in Hong Kong talked about their collaboration with businesses and the introduction of Hong Kong LGBT+ Inclusion Index. She also shared experiences in advocating for diversity in the society in collaboration with businesses.
Before the end of the forum, Lesley Sun, one of the organizers of ShanghaiPRIDE, offered a preview of CnPRIDE. The audience responded positively. They also expressed the needs of LGBTQ forums to disseminate proper information. The event was concluded with the anticipation of next year’s ShanghaiPRIDE.
We would like to thank Andaz Xintiandi, Shanghai, British Consulate-General Shanghai, The Dow Chemical Company, and TrueBaby for their tremendous support for the event!
