Police enjoy broad powers to monitor, harass and detain activists for causes ranging from religious rights to the environment. Xiang's detention underscores the limits the conservative Communist government continues to impose on campaigners as it seeks to contain demands for more free expression and civil rights. Reports said about 80 people took part in the march along a riverfront park, carrying anti-discrimination banners and a giant rainbow flag, and there was no mention of problems with police at the time. The man, identified only by his surname Xiang, was detained following the Friday event in the city of Changsha and ordered to serve 12 days in a detention centre for organizing an illegal march, according to a notice on the local police's microblog account.Ĭhangsha newspaper Xiaoxiang Morning News quoted Xiang as saying before the march that he hoped it would make people question discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people, and 'let more people have a correct understanding of us.'Ĭhina requires prior police approval for all marches and street demonstrations and permission is rarely granted. BEIJING - Police in central China have detained the 18-year-old organizer of a gay pride march in a sign of the government's nervousness over a growing civil society movement and demands for stronger individual rights.