Development and division: the effect of transnational linkages and local politics on LGBT activism in China

Identity movements, such as those representing LGBT communities, are assumed to be highly universalized; they are often thought to be highly dependent upon international linkages in order to emerge and develop. Although the Chinese LGBT movement owes much of its development to global civil society and international donors, this article presents survey and interview data that show its linkages with the international community are not as strong as we might expect. The article shows that economics and politics of transnational activism in China are tightly intertwined. The means by which LGBT activism has developed in China has simultaneously contributed to division within its ranks and with global civil society: the nature of international funding—while from foreign sources it is funneled through the Chinese government—and local political conditions ultimately impedes the growth of stronger transnational linkages.