When reading Bridegroom I was very saddened by the progression of the story. There was a lot of injustice and ignorance from the characters regarding homosexuality.
When Baowen was taken by the officers for attending the meeting, I was shocked to find out it was an offense punishable by imprisonment. They either put them in a mental hospital, made them do labor or put them in jail.
I was also shocked to find out the dad thought that homosexuality was a disease and was possibly transmissible person to person. That is obviously untrue, but the ignorance surrounding what being gay meant was very prevalent for majority of the characters, they had no idea the cause or what it meant exactly, and their ignorance proved to be dangerous.
Baowen’s treatment at the hospital was very inhumane. He would have to undergo electroshock baths. It was said that his was a milder treatment and many had it worse with even more painful procedures and electric shock. What was even more horrifying is that the Dr. Mai knew that homosexuality was a preference and congenital, and he knew the horrible treatments did nothing. He was still powerless to stop it since it was the regulated procedure via the Department of Public Health.
I think this story proves to show that hatred and ignorance are two of the most dangerous things to a community.
