"The 29-year-old and 33-year-old were arrested for "maliciously" associating queerness with certain Chinese cities, according to The Washington Post. The men allegedly shared the AI-manipulated image of pandas at the "panda capital" of Chengdu, which is in the country's southwest region. Authorities suspended the two men's social media accounts for allegedly spreading misinformation in the guise of real news. The AI-altered photo posted on social media featured a made-up headline along with the image of the male pandas mating."
""Chengdu: Two male Sichuan giant pandas successfully mate for the first time without human intervention," the photo's caption reads, according to the . "This case has been described as a stigmatization of Chengdu, because many netizens joked that homosexuality is so widespread in the city that even pandas there turned gay," lawyer Wang Xuetan of Shezhen, China, told the outlet. Though the news post was false,"
"ShanghaiPride has been indefinitely suspended since 2021, and dozens of LGBTQ+ accounts have also been deleted from WeChat, a popular Chinese messaging app. In 2025, China removed two popular gay dating apps from the Apple store. "There used to be a vibrant gay scene in Chengdu, and LGBTQ people there were highly visible and welcomed," Kenneth Cheung, a Hong Kong-based activist and the founder of LGBTQ+ rights group Rainbow China, told the . "Now, that culture increasingly faces challenges.""
An AI-manipulated photo showing two male pandas mating was shared on social media with a fabricated headline claiming Chengdu pandas mated without human intervention. Two men, aged 29 and 33, were detained and had their social accounts suspended for allegedly "maliciously" associating queerness with certain Chinese cities. Authorities framed the post as misinformation presented as real news. Local experts say the arrests fit within a broader, long-standing crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights in China that has targeted writers and creators and led to deletions of LGBTQ+ accounts and suspension of ShanghaiPride. Activists warn Chengdu’s previously visible LGBTQ+ culture now faces growing challenges.
Read at Advocate.com
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