Gay adoption drama directed by a teenager tells Chinese true story of LGBT couple and their child – ‘the world’s strongest family’

Producing the film was a huge undertaking for Ran Yinxiao, who wanted to explore the difficulties sexual minorities face in starting a family in the country

China has yet to legalise same-sex marriage or allow couples to adopt, and LGBT filmmakers have felt the effects of increasing censorship in the country’s media

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An official promotional photo for “Forbidden Love in Heaven”. The movie challenges traditional views about the LGBT community in China. Photo: courtesy of Ran Yinxiao

Published: 4:15am, 31 Dec 2020Updated: 8:21am, 4 Jan 2021

A gay couple adopt a child and start a family together. In China, where many barely acknowledge the existence of the LGBT community, this touching real-life story was made into a movie by 19-year-old Ran Yinxiao.

Forbidden Love in Heaven, released in July on several Chinese streaming platforms, follows the story of a man who finds a child on the streets and raises the boy with his male partner.

Producing the film was a huge undertaking for the aspiring director from Chongqing, in China’s southwest. It took seven months and cost 50,000 yuan (US$7,700).

“This was my bold attempt to explore the difficulties that sexual minorities face in starting a family,” Ran says. “My thinking was that if three different people without any blood ties could start a family, then this must be the world’s strongest family.”

Ran Yinxiao is studying filmmaking at the Communication University of China. Photo: courtesy of Ran Yinxiao

The young filmmaker is one of a number of increasingly vocal activists challenging China’s traditional views of the LGBT community, despite the government’s growing censorship of the issue.

Homosexuality was decriminalised in China in 1997 and removed from the official list of mental illnesses in 2001, but the country has yet to legalise same-sex marriage. Same-sex couples, currently campaigning to be recognised in the country’s census, also cannot adopt children.