Ausma Bernot: Queer Social Sorting - Control and resistance in China’s LGBTQ+ activism

This talk with Ausma Bernot on 'Queer Social Sorting - Control and resistance in China’s LGBTQ+ activism' was held at the ADM+S Centre at RMIT University and livestreamed online on Tuesday 16 May 2023.

Since 2013, LGBTQ+ activism in China has been progressively hampered by sophisticated queer social sorting methods that include both automated decision-making and the use of human labour in enforcing queer “othering”. On the surface, China’s authorities maintain formal decorum and formulaic support for LGBTQ+ communities. Non-discrimination can be argued on the basis of formal UN announcements confirming China's stance against LGBTQ+ discrimination as well as the gradual thawing of national laws that restrict LGBTQ+ communities, such as the recent 2022 regulations lowering the minimum age requirements for gender affirming surgery from 20 to 18. Concurrently, suppression of LGBTQ+ activism exists under the surface of international and national political decorum. The state-sponsored control of queer activism is now increasingly linked to two elements: China’s call to return to traditional gender roles and social sorting of queer activism. Queer social sorting is achieved through an interconnected means of the legal and regulatory frames, public and state security monitoring and harassment, and digital surveillance. This chapter unpacks the web of those practices with a particular focus on inclusion of automated decision-making and the power dynamics they entrench.

Author bio:
Ausma Bernot is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Charles Sturt University. Along with Prof Patrick F Walsh, Ausma is working to advance national intelligence capabilities in responding to health threats. She has six years of work experience with forensic science and research organisations across the globe, in particular China, where she had the chance to gain insights on how technologies are governed at provincial and national levels. Being fluent in Mandarin and building on existing networks in China, Ausma has used primary and secondary sources to research both surveillance technology development and governance in the country.