2/28/2024 0 Comments Jing xing![]() ![]() Jin’s willingness to reveal – and revel in – her sex-change story continues to make waves. “The day I came out as a woman to society, I said,` Okay, I give myself 50 years’ time, I will tell the society who I am’.” “It’s still in the struggle period, but it’s getting better,” Jin said. Yet, with an estimated transgender community of around 400,000 the Chinese government has granted them civil rights under the law, allowing them to change their national ID cards and passports, and legally recognizing their marriages after sex-change. LGBT couples are not recognized as constituting families. There are no applicable laws and regulations governing gay marriage, divorce, child custody, adoption and other related issues. Meantime, even though homosexuality has been decriminalized in 1997 and was dropped from the official list of “mental disorders” in 2001, China’s LGBT community continues to struggle against social stigma and legal discrimination.īecause the Chinese government remains largely silent on the issue of homosexuality, they risk official ban or harassment whenever they meet, organize or provide services within the community. “But how does the society accept you and digest the status matters – that’s up to you to convince them.” “Everything is legal,” she enthused in her gravelly voice, referring to her sex change, marriage and adoption. Soon after, she married a German man, Heinz Gerd Oidtmann. She became a mother, adopting three Chinese orphans – son Leo, daughter Vivian and little boy Julian. I remember seeing her driving in a green VW Beetle, rushing from one meeting to another, dressed in mini-skirts, loud colored blouses and high heels. I recall seeing Jin a few times in “Half Dream,” a bar she opened in Beijing which briefly became a hub for local artists and expatriates. The new woman continued to thrive with even more charm and effervescence. So 28 years later, you’ve found yourself. ![]() The PLA officer was briefly speechless, but after smoking a cigarette, he told Jin: “Twenty years ago, I looked at you and wondered, I have a son but he looks like a girl. Jin recalls sitting in the hospital and telling his father: “Your son has become your daughter.” Jin fretted over what his father, a military officer, would say.Īt age 28, Jin underwent three sex-change surgeries. She worried the surgery would not go well and feared for her son’s future. I was really challenging the boundaries of the society but I had confidence in myself.” “We Chinese always take the attitude, whenever things are not certain, we step back or stay there, to give it some time and space and let things naturally happen and become right. “The country’s best male dancer becomes a female dancer – that’s too much for the Chinese society and government.”įortunately for Jin, the society and government took a laissez-faire tack. “That was quite taboo in 1995,” Jin recalled. Homosexuality was still considered a crime, tagged as “hooliganism,” and was officially listed as a “mental disorder.” I was wondering maybe I am homosexual, but in the end I said, no, I should come back to myself.” “I myself knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know what was wrong or what was mistaken. “When I was six years old, I thought I should be a woman,” Jin said. That time, the 26-year-old was perhaps the best male dancer in China, much admired for his furious pirouettes, soaring leaps and dazzling choreography.Ī year later, Jin decided to have sex change. He had just returned to Beijing after spending four years in the United States, learning modern dance from mentors like Martha Graham, and later dancing with professional troupes in Rome and Paris. I first met Jin Xing in 1994, when he was a man. Although the wall of puritanism built around China’s sexual mores has been gradually crumbling, traditional Chinese reticence and sexual stereotypes persist. Jin’s story acquires distinct significance in the Chinese context.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |