While many dissidents would be imprisoned, it is unclear if LGBT people were specifically targeted for oppression due to their sexual identity. Reportedly, Mao Zedong believed in the sexual castration of "sexual deviants" (Randy Shilts. "Conduct Unbecoming") but little is known about the Communist Chinese governments official policy with regards to homosexuality prior to the 1980s.
Even as late as the early 1980s, there were some Chinese men seeking asylum in other countries reported that they had faced systematic discrimination and harassment from the government because of their sexual orientation as well as similar mistreatment from family members [1]. Likewise, the Chinese government did treat homosexuality as a disease and subjected gay men to electric shock therapy and other attempts to change their sexual orientation [34]