CENSORSHIP

Chinese Writer Gets 10 Years in Prison For ‘Gay Sex Novel’

Novelist was jailed for producing and selling “obscene material.”

A Chinese writer has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for writing and selling a novel featuring gay sex scenes. The writer, only identified in Chinese media as Liu, was jailed in Anhui province last month for her novel Occupation which authorities said contained “male homosexual behaviour... including perverted sexual acts like violation and abuse.” Pornography is illegal in China. Liu is reported to have sold over 7,000 copies of her books and made 150,000 yuan ($21,604) in profit. Police were reportedly alerted to her novel after it started to gain popularity online. Some have protested the lengthy sentence, with one Weibo user reportedly writing: “Ten years for a novel? That's too much.”