Where the Rainbow Rises: The Strategic Adaptations of China's LGBT NGOs to Restricted Civic Space

The past decade has witnessed a new trend towards restrictions and surveillance on civil society organizations in China, which seriously affected China's grassroots LGBT NGOs. Based on a field study of Chinese grassroots LGBT NGOs, this article explores the coping strategies utilized by these organizations to survive in a restricted civic space. Empirical evidence shows these organizations adopting various tactics to obtain funding and legitimacy. Yet despite the undeniable agency of these LGBT NGOs, they are still restricted by institutional power. While scrupulously avoiding political risks, grassroots LGBT NGOs inevitably shifted away from rights advocacy missions to become service-oriented, depoliticizing and even distorting their agendas. Consequently, the intensifying restrictions and surveillance have invisibly but saliently reshaped the structures and practices of these NGOs.