For many years it has been difficult for LGBT organisations to hold public events in China. A pride parade was held in Changsha, Hunan province, with about 80 participants strolling along the riverbank area with rainbow flags on 17 May 2013. There were individuals from seven different areas of China. The 19-year-old organiser was detained for 12 days. Three others were arrested, but released without charges (Leach 2012a). Shanghai Pride in June 2013 had some of its planned events go ahead, with an informal approval from government. There were two panel discussions, a picnic, film nights, sports events, and an opening party attended by 1,500 people (Potts 2013a).
The sixth Beijing LGBT film festival in June, 2013, was organised ‘guerilla style’, with showings at scattered locations and announcements of venues made at the last moment. More organised screenings were held at the French and Dutch embassies and the American Center. There were 28 films from five countries. For the first time in the history of the festival there was no interference from authorities (Leach 2013a).
In August, 2013, Beijing groups hosted the second annual national conference of LGBT activists, with funding of US$30,000 from a joint US-UN Development Program project ‘Being LGBT in Asia.’ The national conference had the approval of Chinese government departments and the China Family Planning Association. There were more than 140 delegates from 28 regions, including Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Caution still needed to be exercised and no local or foreign media were invited to cover the event (Chiu 2013).