The Phoenix Satellite Television (凤凰卫视) documentary, named “It’s Me (以我之名——同性恋群体实录)”, claims to be the first documentary made by Chinese mainstream media that is narrated by gay people about their own real lives. The documentary, which took more than a year to prepare and several months to shoot, interviewed more than forty members of the gay community and their families in nine cities and worked with six gay rights NGOs. Almost all interviewees agreed to show their faces on camera.
The documentary advocates that the choice of every individual should be respected, and it gives a new definition to “minority” groups in China, pointing out that there are occasions when everyone is a minority. Producers of the documentary interviewed gay people from all walks of life, and by letting them tell their own stories, aimed to reveal the struggles that Chinese gay people go through to accept their own identity and be accepted by society. The producers also pointed out that they are not trying to encourage all people to come out since everyone lives a different life. The aim is to raise awareness of the gay community in China, and call for actions to protect the rights of minorities in society.
