Shanghai Pride


Shanghai Pride is an annual LGBT pride event that takes place in Shanghai, China. It was first held in 2009 and was significant in that it was the first time a mass LGBT event took place in mainland China.
Shanghai Pride is now in its eleventh consecutive year.

Event history

In 2009, the event was held for the first time from 7 to 13 June 2009. No parade took place as the legal advice sought by the organisers indicated that Chinese authorities would not approve of a parade taking place in the city. Instead, the event was celebrated as a pride festival with cultural events. Organizers stated that this was the first LGBT festival in China; there are individuals, mostly Chinese LGBT activists, who say that there were organized LGBT events that occurred prior to Shanghai Pride.
The festival featured events such as an art exhibition and film screenings. There was also a large party hosted by a privately owned venue. Three thousand people from China and other countries attended the festival. There was also to be a raffle to raise money for the Chiheng Foundation AIDS Orphans project.
In 2010 the event was held during October, directly following the closing days of the Shanghai Expo, over a 3-week period.
In 2011 the event was again held during October, this time in over 9 days.
For the 2012 event, the organisers have announced that it will move back to June and be held over 9 days.
2018 Shanghai Pride celebrated its 10th year.
The event in 2019 was held from 18 May to 16 June.
RouteStartDuration
Nike 0013 km
Nike Huaihai BE5 km
Ferguson Lane6 km
Jing'an Park7.2 km
Long Museum8 km
Shanghai Swimming Stadium10 km
The Bund15 km

Organization development

The festival is organised by volunteers from the Shanghai LGBT community. During its conception in 2009, the event planning, partnerships and execution were led by two moderators, American women Tiffany Lemay and Hannah Miller, who had resided in Shanghai for several years. Their status as outsiders created an advantage to hosting the festival, and reduced the potential for government interference. Miller, a lesbian living in the city since 2001, views Shanghai as "undoubtedly China's most liberal and progressive city", which is thus the reasoning for them hosting the festival in the city. Lemay said: '...last year, we saw the Beijing Olympics described as "China's coming out" party. Now China is really coming out – this time from the closet'.
In 2010, with the event now established, there was greater collaboration between local LGBT groups and other organisations. This has continued during the planning period in 2011 and 2012.

Language and ethnic demographics

The 2009 Shanghai Pride event was only publicized in English, and its website was only in English. Most of the organizers were white people who originated from Western countries and were of the middle class, and therefore most of the participants were from the same demographic. One reason why the 2009 event had these demographics was because the working language of the Shanghai LGBT Group was English; foreign expatriates had established the groups. In addition, the publicity was only in English to avoid causing the Chinese government to enact additional restrictions or control. Now the Shanghai Pride website is available both in English and Chinese. The organization also has put a lot of effort into attracting the Chinese crowd in order to facilitate the integration between the LGBT Chinese and the LGBT expatriates.