LGBT+ danmei and baihe creators are being legally prosecuted in China in an anti-queer crackdown, being psychologically tormented in detainment, given thousands of dollars in fines, and given up to 10 years prison-time for the "crime" of writing queer stories online.

We are writing to express our profound concern for the current legal prosecution of danmei and baihe creators in China and the ongoing silence of US publisher Seven Seas Entertainment in response. Since the company’s inception in 2004, Jason DeAngelis and Seven Seas Entertainment have prided themselves on being independent, forward-thinking publishers who see quality in overlooked and undervalued mediums. Seven Seas has since become the leading publisher of these stories. They have released and profited from nearly 100 danmei titles, all while staying silent about the persecution of danmei creators.

This silence sets a dangerous precedent of abandoning our most vulnerable communities when they most need support and transparency. 

 

Legal Prosecution of Queer Writers & Readers Abroad

 

 

In 2004— the same year Seven Seas Entertainment was brought to life in the US— a law penalizing “obscene materials for profit” went into effect in China. The definition of “obscene” remains vague and was further weaponized in 2021 when the Cyberspace Administration of China publicly announced an extended crackdown targeting online content that would “negatively impact teenagers.” This included the banning of portrayals of effeminate men and other “abnormal aesthetics” in media.

This has snowballed into a full-fledged repression of the Chinese LGBTQ+ community, including the Beijing LGBT Center closing in 2023 after 15 years of operation. This has resulted in many queer creatives flocking to online writing sites to freely and safely publish their content, including danmei and baihe: queer romance stories.

In June 2025, the crackdown on these stories escalated in a continuation of their “clean internet” campaign. Police officers in the Gansu and Anhui provinces began arresting writers. They’ve targeted at least ten writers so far, threatening them with more than ten years in prison. Some have been faced with up to a quarter-million USD in fines. While some authors were persecuted for profiting of their work, others— particularly in Gansu— were targeted by authorities based on the work’s popularity alone.

These writers were charged with “producing, reproducing, publishing, trafficking, and distributing obscene materials for profit.” Released writers have reported horrific conditions and treatment including: being stripping naked for examination, interrogated for up to nine hours with no food or breaks, threatened with social humiliation/exposure, manipulated with coercive language, and having forged statements of confessions to "obscenity." They have noted a consistent pattern of the authorities insisting that all queer media, regardless of actual content or age specifications, is “obscene and pornographic.”

This crackdown has recently extended to readers of danmei and baihe, who have been brought in for questioning under these same threatening and inhumane conditions for “distributing obscenity and pornography.”

 

Seven Seas and Danmei Publishing

 

 

 

 

 

In 2018, Seven Seas hit the jackpot with its translation of the danmei fantasy trilogy Guardian: Zhen Hun. It net Seven Seas Entertainment billions of views, international acclaim, and a USA Today best seller. They went on to aquire danmei works that not only came with a rabid fanbase of loyal and enthusiastic readers but also net Seven Seas three books on the New York Times’s bestsellers list, selling half a million copies.

Since then, Seven Seas Entertainment has acquired and published nearly 100 danmei titles from Chinese creators. Though the exact numbers are unavailable, their continued investment in publishing danmei shows that Seven Seas acknowledges the viable market and fanbase for these stories and the value of these writers.

However, despite nearly a decade of gaining critical acclaim, profit, and a loyal reader-base off of danmei, Seven Seas has a noted track record of exploiting their danmei writers and translators and sitting in conspicuous silence when their creators and lifeblood overseas are under attack.

 

Our Demands to Seven Seas 

 

 

 

 

We call on Seven Seas Entertainment to take immediate action to support their Chinese collaborators:

1.     Release a public statement on the Seven Seas website as well as all social media platforms acknowledging the persecution and prosecution of danmei and baihe writers to their sizable follower-base

2.     Release a public statement, as a leading publisher of danmei, re-affirming the artistic and cultural merit of danmei and rejecting the queer-phobic notion that danmei is inherently and always “obscene”

3.     Transparency with the public and potential collaborators about the profits earned from danmei and baihe titles

4.     Transparency with the public and potential collaborators about the shared profits going to Chinese creators and translators

5.     Provide fair and reasonable compensation and productivity standards to Chinese translators in line with United Workers of Seven Seas work standards

 

After almost a decade of being the largest voice for English-language danmei publishing, Seven Seas Entertainment has a responsibility to its workers, collaborators, & readers. We oppose Seven Seas' dangerous silence and urgently call on the president and board to take decisive action.