Meme of the weekend

XoXo Ag

Detained in Asia for Circuit Party

My bf and I were 2 of 21 detained in Shanghai Police custody a week ago after the raid of a circuit party.

Short story: The Angel circuit party was raided by local police. Everyone was forced to take a hair test for drugs. We were detained from 2am to 9pm the following day (19 hours) with no phone, no outside contact, and almost no access to food or water. We later learned there is a huge crackdown on drugs and the government is not very favorable toward the LGBT community. They don’t want “undesirable” foreigners entering their country and they want locals to give up the names of friends and dealers. I suggest skipping mainland China if you plan to go to LGBT bars/clubs.

Longer story: We had just flown into Shanghai for my work Saturday afternoon. Thinking Shanghai is a large metropolitan city and after finding some LGBT clubs and even a circuit party, we decided to attend.

When we arrived at LG club, we were waved to come in. Once inside, we quickly realized something was very wrong. All the lights were on, no music, everyone huddled in the middle, lots of police standing on the perimeter. We had walked into a police raid. The police spoke almost no English and would not explain what was happening, except that we could not leave. We saw someone trying to take pictures but they took his phone and deleted his recent pics. We gauged the situation by reading the mood of the other patrons who still seemed to be in ok spirits. We thought at most they would take our information and let us go. The locals that were detained with us said something like this has not happened in a very long time. Even they didn’t know what to expect. They noted that the government is not favorable of the LBGT community and believed that we were targeted. We were held at the club for 2 hours until everyone was forced to have their hair tested in small groups (NOTE: we had not done anything in China but we later learned it’s an offense even to have done something somewhere else).

Many in our group were called and told to go outside. We were told to sit down with a small group of guys that were ahead of us. They took pictures of us and our passports. Then we were escorted outside. When I saw the police van, my heart sank immediately and I knew we were in some deep sh*t.

We were transported to the basement of a police station. It was a dirty holding room which held other guys from the same party. Most of the time the 21 of us spent waiting and worrying about what would happen next. We were never given a straight answer for how long we would be held but we were told prison was a possibility. The reality of the situation sank in when a guard came in with handcuffs and took a third of our group away. We later learned this was to take a more complex hair test at a lab. They were brought back and we later got our turn as well. After the results came back hours later, we were forced to give recorded testimonies. Someone took notes in Chinese that we were forced to sign even though we had no clue what exactly we were signing. I tried not complying until they let me speak with my embassy, but was shoved and physically forced to sign and provide my finger prints. They called us pedophiles and laughed at our plight. At one point they told my bf he was going to be transported to prison. They looked through our phones, and had us give them the passwords so they could download the contents. 5 of those detained had negative lab results but they were kept with us the whole time anyway (because, it’s China). They eventually released the foreigners after 19 hours and a $30 fine. However, we were required to wait 3 days for an amended single 10-day visa. I’m not sure of the fates of all the local and Taiwanese citizens, but we heard at least some were put in jail for 10 days.

This has been the most stressful situation I’ve been in, but a few things brought me comfort: 1. Having my bf with me 2. Knowing there were people on the outside that knew what was happening and could get help, and 3. The 21 of us, mostly strangers, supporting each other.

In China you are guilty until proven innocent and virtually have no rights. They can detain you for 48 hours for no reason at all and don’t need to let you talk to anyone during that time. Only right before a trial are you allowed legal council. I feel incredibly sad for the people who have to live in this environment every day under constant fear. If you don’t need to travel to Mainland China, I suggest you pass.

-Circuit Royals Group

RIP Bobby Webster

Xoxo GG

Closed

Cafe D Etoile, After 36 years this Santa Monica blvd resturant in the heart of weho has closed. 

Xoxo GG

Trash of the Weekend at the Abbey

Joshwa Stalvey is a hot mess always causing trouble. Stay clear! xox GG

TSA is pressuring trans people into showing their genitals before they can board a plane

Olivia said she is used to people questioning her appearance — and even her right to exist — because she is transgender. Showing her naked body to TSA officers, however, was a level of invasiveness. 

This story was co-published with the Miami Herald.

Olivia stepped into a full-body scanner at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

When she stepped out, a female Transportation Security Administration officer approached. On the scanner’s screen was an outline of a human body with the groin highlighted. The officer told Olivia that because of something the scanner had detected, a pat-down would be necessary.

As a transgender woman, Olivia, 36, had faced additional TSA scrutiny before. On those occasions, a manual search at the checkpoint had been enough to assure TSA officers that there wasn’t a weapon or explosive hidden in her undergarments.

This encounter with the TSA went very differently.

After patting down Olivia and testing her hands for explosive residue, the officer said that she still couldn’t clear Olivia to board her flight and that a further search would be required.

Olivia was led to a private room where, she said, the officer patted her down again, running her hands down Olivia’s legs and over her groin.

“I told her: ‘If the issue is what you are feeling, let me tell you what this is. It is my penis,’” said Olivia, who agreed to be interviewed only if she were identified by her middle name because she fears people will treat her differently if they know she is transgender.

Soon after, three other TSA officers, all of them women and at least one of them a supervisor, entered the room, Olivia said.

TSA rules require that passengers be searched by officers of the same gender as they present. But, according to Olivia, the TSA supervisor told her that she would have to be patted down by a male officer.

Shawn and Gus

Can Shawn come out already? Reports are he is getting touchy with gay Olympian Gus K. 

Xoxo Snap