The genre known as Boys’ Love, stories written mostly by and for straight women, has been in the authorities’ sights for years.
The graduate student in southern China wrote the romance novel in her spare time, self-publishing it online. In 75 chapters, it followed two male protagonists through a love affair that included, at times, steamy sexual encounters. It earned her less than $400, from readers who paid to access it.
Now, it could bring her a criminal conviction.
Across China, the authorities have been interrogating dozens of writers — many of them young women — who published gay erotic novels online, in what appears to be the largest police roundup of its kind to date.
At least 12 such authors were tried on obscenity charges in Anhui Province late last year, according to court records, and more investigations, including that of the student, were opened in Gansu Province this spring. Some of the writers have been fined heavily or sentenced to years in prison for producing and distributing obscene content.
At the center of the crackdown is Boys’ Love, a genre of romance between men that is mostly written and read online, and mostly by heterosexual women. Originally from Japan, it has developed a fervent niche following in China and other Asian countries since the 1990s, offering fans an alternative to the stereotypes of passive, obedient women and macho men in many mainstream love stories.
At its peak in the 2010s, Boys’ Love gave rise to some of China’s most popular television and web dramas, and it launched the careers of some of the country’s biggest male stars. But that has changed in recent years.
As the genre grew more popular, state media began to denounce it as “vulgar,” claiming that the gay story lines could distort young readers’ sexual orientations. Shows were canceled, and television regulators banned Boys’ Love adaptations and gay-themed content more broadly. In a 2018 case that angered many Chinese internet users, a popular author was sentenced to 10 years in prison on obscenity charges.
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