To say that Adult Romance or “Erotica” is popular would be an understatement. Tens of millions of books in this genre are sold each year, not including the free stories available online. But apparently China considered it porn.

Chinese authorities have detained at least 30 women in their 20s and early 30s in connection with self-published gay erotica, in what lawyers and activists are calling a draconian crackdown on online content and a troubling escalation of censorship targeting women and LGBTQ+ voices.

The arrested writers were allegedly involved in producing “danmei” — a genre of erotic fiction that centers male-male romance and is especially popular among women readers. Most had published their work through niche online platforms such as Haitang Literature City, which operates on a pay-per-read model. Though inaccessible without a VPN in China, the platform has been a hub for danmei creators and fans.

Several women were taken from their homes and schools, often publicly. One writer, using the pseudonym Pingping Anan Yongfu, described being forced to strip for a search and interrogated about her sexuality. Another young graduate student told The New York Times she earned only $400 from her novel, now being treated as criminal evidence.

In many cases, the accused earned only modest sums, as little as a few thousand yuan, from their writing. Yet under China’s sweeping 2004 obscenity law, they could face sentences of over 10 years to life in prison if convicted.

According to legal experts, authorities in the northwestern city of Lanzhou initiated many of the arrests under that statute. Defense attorneys say trials may begin as early as autumn. Police have not issued formal statements or responded to press inquiries.

The arrests sparked intense backlash online. On platforms like RedNote and Weibo, users flooded hashtags such as #Haitang and #DanmeiWriters with commentary, generating over 200 million views before state censors removed the posts. A viral meme captured the anger:

“Men who write pornographic fiction enter the China Writers’ Association, whereas women who do the same go to jail.”

Critics point to the selective enforcement of pornography laws, where content featuring LGBT relationships or created by women appears to be treated more harshly than violent or explicitly exploitative material available on mainstream social media.

State-run media and regulators have condemned danmei fiction in recent years. In 2020, the People’s Daily labeled such works as “poison,” and in 2021, authorities issued directives banning content depicting “abnormal sexual relationships.”

Danmei fiction, rooted in the Japanese “yaoi” genre, is often consumed by women and marginalized communities. A peer-reviewed study in the European Journal of Cultural Studies emphasized that this crackdown represents not just censorship, but a collapse in trust and creative safety within the danmei community.

One moderator of the Reddit community r/DanmeiNovels noted that arrests have intensified since 2010, saying, “The crackdown has fragmented danmei’s cultural ecology and laid bare the precarity of its creators.”

Lawyers and human rights activists argue the law is outdated and ill-suited for the digital age. “They should implement a rating system,” said feminist activist Li Maizi, “not erase these voices.”

Multiple attorneys have now offered pro bono representation to the arrested authors, while some families and users remain silent due to fear of government retaliation.

Supporters point to stark contradictions in China’s treatment of sexual content. While women authors are prosecuted for small-scale danmei stories, male writers and producers of far more explicit or exploitative material often go unpunished — or even lauded by official channels.

“Some perpetrators of domestic violence and rape get lighter sentences than women who write fictional gay erotica,” one user commented.

Thank goodness adult romance (erotica) isn’t banned in the US because it’s without a doubt my favorite genre.