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North Korea

North Korea Sentences US Citizen To 15 Years Hard Labor

KCNA (North Korea), CNN (USA), BBC NEWS (UK) REUTERS

Worldcrunch

PYONGYANG – U.S. citizen Pae Jun-ho, detained in North Korea since last November, has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor, North Korean state news reported on Thursday.

Pae Jung-ho, known in the U.S. as Kenneth Bae, was tried on April 30, for allegedly committing “hostile acts against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” reports the North Korean News Agency.

A senior U.S. official declared that the State Department did not know the exact charges against Mr Pae, CNN reports. Human Rights activists however suggest that he may have been arrested for taking pictures of starving children, Reuters reports.

Mr Pae, 44, entered the country as a tourist last year and was arrested on November 3. The BBC reports that he is believed to be a tour operator who had already been to North Korea several times.

This sentence comes amid high tensions between North Korea and the US, after Pyonyang carried out its third nuclear test earlier this year, and repeatedly threatened the U.S. and South Korea.

Reuters suggests that Mr Pae could be used as a bargaining chip in talks with Washington.

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LGBTQ Plus

My Wife, My Boyfriend — And Grandkids: A Careful Coming Out For China's Gay Seniors

A series of interviews in Wuhan with aging gay men — all currently or formerly married to women — reveals a hidden story of how Chinese LGBTQ culture is gradually emerging from the shadows.

Image of two senior men playing chinese Checkers.

A friendly game of Checkers in Dongcheng, Beijing, China.

Wang Er

WUHAN — " What do you think of that guy sitting there, across from us? He's good looking."

" Then you should go and talk to him."

“ Too bad that I am old..."

Grandpa Shen was born in 1933. He says that for the past 40 years, he's been "repackaged," a Chinese expression for having come out as gay. Before his wife died when he was 50, Grandpa Shen says he was was a "standard" straight Chinese man. After serving in the army, he began working in a factory, and dated many women and evenutually got married.

"Becoming gay is nothing special, I found it very natural." Grandpa Shen says he discovered his homosexuality at the Martyrs' Square in Wuhan, a well-known gay men's gathering place.

✉️ You can receive our LGBTQ+ International roundup every week directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.

Wuhan used to have different such ways for LGBTQ+ to meet: newspaper columns, riversides, public toilets, bridges and baths to name but a few. With urbanization, many of these locations have disappeared. The transformation of Martyrs' Square into a park has gradually become a place frequented by middle-aged and older gay people in Wuhan, where they play cards and chat and make friends. There are also "comrades" (Chinese slang for gay) from outside the city who come to visit.

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