Looking over Luzhou City in Sichuan Province from the fifteenth-floor balcony of my apartment I was wondering, after over twenty years of coming to China, what was wrong with this country. Then it hit me.
I could see four main streets from my apartment, all right in the heart of the city with shops, bars clubs and restaurants and it pains me to report to the awake readers of The New Conservative, there was not a single 2SLGBTQWERTY+ flag in sight. I went for a walk, convinced I would see at least a few stickers on shop windows or shopworkers wearing multi-coloured ribbons. I am sorry to report that I saw none.
I was tempted to tell my hosts to take me back to the airport directly, but decided against it. Instead, I realised that it was up to me to change things around here. No doubt it was simply the case that nobody had tried to educate the Chinese about the things that really matter in society. The effect of a few flags and stickers on China could be transformative: a great leap forward, perhaps.
Armed with indignity, I went forth emboldened and full of righteous anger; determined to root out any other injustices and omissions there were. I had considered forming a committee and organising a rally but, despite repeated efforts, I could not find out which office of the local police force one ought to visit to lodge an application. The local council, who always seemed to be at ‘the party’, were no help. This cultural revolution would be down to me alone.
First, I would have to conduct a combined LGBTQ+/intersectional audit at the local university where I work. I thought I would be as transparent as possible and sought the cooperation of their Equality, Inclusion and Diversity Officer. I was shocked to hear that there was no such person and, if anyone had responsibility, they would be at the same ‘party’ as the local councillors. It must be some party, I thought, and I hoped that once all my efforts bore fruit that I could go and join the fun; join the party, as it were. Meantime, I was still on my own.
Puzzled as to how inclusion, diversity and equality were enforced or implemented locally I visited a few departments and requested to see their equality, diversity and inclusion statements. I drew a blank. There was not a single document related to these issues and a complete lack of flags and posters here too. I could not fathom how these organisations functioned given how crucial these policies are to the day to day running of UK universities. How would they know what to do if, for example, a transgender woman turned up on campus? Did they have policies related to the use of lavatories? Were there tampons in the male toilets? You have probably guessed it. There was nothing to guide practice. It is quite possible that there is not even a single tampon in the gents. There are certainly none in the female toilets which I use.
Colleagues claimed that there was probably only one transgender person in their city which, I thought, was perfect. What better definition of a minority could there be? What if she/her turned up? After all, in the UK we need to have a specific policy for each of the 107 sexual identities we have back home. Two-spirit, non-binary cat gendered and queer; you won’t catch us out. What is more, our entire organisation must be focused on and rotate around your needs alone. That does not quite seem to be the philosophy in China.
I discovered, like the proverbial fish, that the rot here begins at the top. Desperate to find some evidence of equality, diversity and inclusion policies or, at least, a platform from which I could begin my campaign, I requested a translation of the university mission statement. It was duly provided (I was relieved) but to my dismay it only referred to excellence in teaching, world leading research and serving society. How quaint.
I was assured by colleagues that it did not matter where I looked inside and outside of the university that I would not find any relevant policies. I began to despair. How on earth did they run their hospitals without at least one Equality, Diversity and Inclusion officer given the crucial role they play in the UK NHS? What was it like at school if you decided that you were a planet or identified as a dog? Was any provision made and did they have books for three-year-olds with graphic pictures of sodomy and oral sex (all in the best possible taste), so that little minds were not warped by the prevailing heteronormativity they would undoubtedly experience when they entered the real world? I shuddered to think that all the little treasures were learning was useless things such as 2 + 2 = 4 (please, don’t get me started).
There was nothing for it. Things had to change, and unless someone else was going to do it (and that looked like an unlikely prospect) it was up to me. I decided to take matters into my own hands and put myself forward for election to the local council. I have emailed to ask how I get an application form to lodge my candidacy and to find out about when the next elections are. That was a week ago…I expect I will hear soon. Meantime, where’s that party?
Roger Watson is a retired academic, editor and writer. He is a columnist with Unity News Network and writes regularly for a range of conservative journals including The Salisbury Review and The European Conservative. He has travelled and worked extensively in the Far East and the Middle East. He lives in Kingston upon Hull, UK.
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