LGBT references blurred out of Eurovision by Chinese government

WHILE you’re skolling champagne in the campiest colours of your favourite Eurovision contestant country, spare a kind thought for fans in China.

Beijing has reportedly censored LGBT references in the international singing contest, with reports the nation is blurring rainbow flags and censoring tattoos.

According to the state-run Global Times, China also removed two songs in the contest — Albania’s “Mall” and Ireland’s “Together”.

It claimed Chinese social media users believe the latter was removed for describing a gay relationship, while the Albanian performers sported tattoos.

In response to TV stills of censored rainbow flags, some users of Chinese network Weibo called for people to boycott Mango TV, which broadcast the first semi-final of Eurovision earlier this week.

It comes as Chinese authorities have recently doubled down on LGBT content on social media.

In 2016, the Chinese Communist Party banned depictions of gay people on television.

Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, was recently forced to reverse a ban on LGBT-related content after a wider outcry within the country.

Last month, Weibo announced it would remove LGBT content from its site to create a “clear and harmonius environment”.

The move sparked a fierce backlash in China, with users holding an online protest using the hashtag #IAmGay, as well as sharing their personal stories.

While the ban was reversed, the communist government deleted the hashtag and shut down influential pro-LGBT accounts.

The 2018 film Call Me By Your Name, which is centered on a same-sex relationship between two men, was pulled from the Beijing Film Festival last month.

Homosexuality was decriminalised in China in 1997, but LGBT people continue to face social and legal discrimination.

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