Li Yinhe ( zh, t=李銀河, s=李银河, p=Lǐ Yínhé;

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Li Sanfan; born February 4, 1952) is a Chinese sociologist, sexologist, and activist for

LGBT rights in China Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) face legal and social challenges that are not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents. While both male and female same-sex sexual activity a ...

. Her main academic interests have been

sexual norm A sexual norm can refer to a personal or a social norm. Most cultures have social norms regarding sexuality, and define '' normal sexuality'' to consist only of certain sex acts between individuals who meet specific age criteria, nonconsangui ...

s in contemporary China,

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

, diverse sexual behaviors including

sadomasochism Sadism () and masochism (), known collectively as sadomasochism ( ) or S&M, is the derivation of pleasure from acts of respectively inflicting or receiving pain or humiliation. The term is named after the Marquis de Sade, a French author known ...

, and

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on Feminism, feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining Social constructionism, social and cultural constructs of gender; ...

Early life and education

Li Yinhe was born in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. Her name was changed from Li Sanfan to Li Yinhe at the age of seven. Her father, Chen Erdong was the director of the department of theories at

People's Daily The ''People's Daily'' ( zh, s=人民日报, p=Rénmín Rìbào) is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the CCP in multiple lan ...

, and her mother was an editor. Li has two elder sisters and one elder brother. Li and her brother adopted their matrilineal surname as a realization of their parents' ideas of gender equality. From 1974 to 1977, Li attended Shanxi University, where she studied history. From 1982 to 1998, she lived in the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

and obtained a Ph.D. in sociology from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

Career

After graduating from Shanxi University, Li worked as an editor at

Guangming Daily The ''Guangming Daily'', also known as the ''Enlightenment Daily'', is a national Chinese-language daily newspaper published in the People's Republic of China. It was established in 1949 as the official paper of the China Democratic League. S ...

. One year later, in 1978, Li was assigned a research position at the State Council Research Office, where she gained national fame by publishing the article "To substantially promote democracy, to substantially promote the rule of law" with Lin Chunhe. In 1979, Li joined the newly founded Institute of Marxism–Leninism at the

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese state research institute and think tank. It is a ministry-level institution under the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The CASS is the highest academic institution and c ...

, where she researched marriage and family issues. After obtaining a doctorate degree from the University of Pittsburgh and returning to China, Li worked as a post-doctoral fellow under the sociologist

Fei Xiaotong Fei Xiaotong or Fei Hsiao-tung (November 2, 1910 – April 24, 2005) was a Chinese anthropologist and sociologist. He was a pioneering researcher and professor of sociology and anthropology; he was also noted for his studies in the study of ...

, then as an instructor at

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

. In 1992, she joined the Institute of Sociology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences as a researcher, and later became director of the Research Office of Family and Sexuality. She worked there until her retirement in 2012. In the 1990s, as part of her research on homosexuality, Li began to translate many important texts focused on queer theory. This included the works of

Judith Butler Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American feminist philosopher and gender studies scholar whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In ...

, Steven Epstein, Gayle Rubin, and Steven Seidman, among many others.

Activism

Li represents "aspiration liberalism" in China. Li has been active in calling for greater tolerance for nonconventional sexual activities in China. She argues the country is undergoing a ''de facto''

sexual revolution The sexual revolution, also known as the sexual liberation, was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western world from the late 1950s to the early 1 ...

, and encourages people to re-examine traditional attitudes towards sexual promiscuity and

. She proposes decriminalization of orgies and

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

(both currently illegal in China). She also believes that

monogamy Monogamy ( ) is a social relation, relationship of Dyad (sociology), two individuals in which they form a mutual and exclusive intimate Significant other, partnership. Having only one partner at any one time, whether for life or #Serial monogamy ...

is a personal decision made between a couple, and should not be enforced by law or social pressure. She was a keynote speaker at the 2006 International Conference on LGBT Human Rights in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec, Canada. Li also publicly speaks about other issues of

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

, such as the growing urban-rural divide in China.

Abolishing outdated criminal laws in China

In 2010 and 2011, Li pointed out on her blog that three criminal laws are outdated - the laws have not adapted to drastic change in public opinion. Li argued that the force of these laws is waning as there are fewer and fewer people being punished for these offenses and the punishments are becoming less severe. Li called on legislators to legalize pornography, abolish the group licentiousness law (which provides up to five years in prison for consenting adults who have sex with more than one other person), and decriminalize prostitution.

Same-sex marriage legislation

In 2000, Li proposed adding same-sex marriage to the law when the National People's Congress prepared to revise the marriage law and sought suggestions from sociologists and legal experts. Li's argument was dismissed and a law expert stated that "China doesn't need to take the lead in this matter." In 2001, Li asked a deputy to the

National People's Congress The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the Sta ...

(NPC) to submit her proposal. However, the proposal was not submitted as she was unable to find 30 other deputies willing to put their names on the document so that it fulfilled the requirements for a proposal on amendments to current laws. Since 2002, Li has continued asking members of the National Committee of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s United front (China), united front system. Its members adv ...

(CPPCC) to submit her proposal.

Personal life

Li was married to Wang Xiaobo, a well-known Chinese novelist, until his death in 1997. Li went to the US alone in 1982, but Wang joined her in 1984 on a scholarship in East Asia Studies. Li announced in December 2014 that she had been in a long-term relationship with a transgender man, Zheng Hongxia (b. 1965), for 15 years.

Selected works and publications

*《中国人的性爱与婚姻》(Sexuality and Marriage in China), Henan People's Press, 1991. *《他们的世界——中国男同性恋群落透视》(Their World: a Study of Homosexuality in China), co-authored, Cosmos Press,

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, 1992; Shanxi People's Press, 1993. *《生育与中国村落文化》(Procreation and Chinese Village Culture), Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, 1993; Chinese Social Science Press, 1994 *《性社会学》(Human Sexuality), translated, Henan People's Press, 1994. *《中国婚姻家庭及其变迁》(Changing Chinese Marriage and the Family), Heilongjiang People's Press, 1995. *《中国女性的性与爱》(Sexuality and Love of Chinese Women), Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, 1996. *《女性权力的崛起》(Rising Power of the Women), Chinese Social Science Press, 1997. *《中国女性的感情与性》(Sexuality and Love of Chinese Women), China Today Press, 1998. *《同性恋亚文化》(Subculture of Homosexuality), China Today Press, 1998. *《虐恋亚文化》(Subculture of Sadomasochism), China Today Press, 1998. *《婚姻法修改论争》(The Argument of the Change for the Marriage Law), Guangming Press, 1999 *《性的问题》(Sex Problem), Chinese Junior Press, 1999 *《性·婚姻---东方与西方》 (Sex·Marriage - Western and Eastern), Shanxi Normal University Press, 1999 *《女性主义》(Feminism), Taiwan Wunan Press, 2003 *《性文化研究报告》(Sex Study Report), Jiangsu People Press, 2003 *《女性的感情与性》(Women's Emotion and Sex), 2003