Gay Guide to Shanghai
China dropped the catch-all hooliganism charge that had been used against gay men when it revised its criminal code in 1997, and removed homosexuality from its official list of mental disorders in 2001. Nothing has been added in the quarter-century since: no marriage, no partnership, no anti-discrimination law. Official posture is usually summarized as not encouraged, not discouraged, not promoted, and it is the third clause that carries the weight. ShanghaiPRIDE ran twelve consecutive years and was the largest Pride on the mainland. In August 2020 it cancelled everything under the title "The end of the rainbow." No order was ever issued; at least three organizers were invited to drink tea with the police, which is the standard euphemism, and the pressure arrived through their jobs and daily lives until carrying on was not worth what it cost.
What remains is nightlife, and it is better than that history suggests. Changning has Lucca, which draws a mixed local and expatriate crowd, and Shai, Riink and Tako fill in elsewhere in the city.
The club end runs through Abyss, Culture Club, Playground, Potent, Reborn and Medusa. Venues here open, move and close faster than in most cities, so confirm anything before building a night around it.
The Shanghai Queer Film Festival still programs, quietly. The ShanghaiPRIDE Film Festival ended with everything else in 2020.
Nothing described above is illegal and the venues operate openly. Nothing is politically visible either, apps do most of the work of meeting people, and public affection is rare outside the bars themselves. Visitors are not the ones at risk here; the people who organize are.