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15 Apr 2016

Chinese court rejects gay marriage lawsuit

A court in China’s Hunan province has ruled against a gay couple who sued their local marriage registry office for rejecting their license application

Sun Wenlin and his partner Hu Mingliang have had their challenge of China’s same-sex marriage policy rejected, dealing a blow to China’s campaign for LGBT equality.

The pair sought to sue after their application for a license was rejected last summer. To their surprise, in January he case was accepted by a district court in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province.

The pair and their lawyer argued that the Sun and Hu had a right to marry and there was no explicit ban on same-sex marriage in the country.

In ruling against the case Wednesday, the court pointed out every mentions of specific genders in China’s Marriage Law, which came into effect in 1981.

Shi Fulong, the couple's lawyer, said he felt "disappointed and saddened,” but that “the gay rights movement has gone from being underground to being in the open thanks to an increasingly tolerant public," he said.

Sun vowed to continue fighting for LGBT equality and told CNN "We will appeal this decision and keep fighting for our rights, what we want is not just a sheet of paper or the recognition of some strangers -- this is about freedom and equality."

Homosexuality was decriminalised in 1997 in China and taken from the official list of mental illnesses in 2001.

Reader's Comments

Comment #1 was deleted by its author on 2016-04-15 19:41
2. 2016-04-15 19:42  
The new was reported to bias in that the denial to their mariage is not a blow to our community,instead the opposite to it,its a landmark case .Much to our surprise the court accepted to hear the case and its publicity,though its judgement was not surprisedly negative.I dont know how many courts in Asia held a hearing on it.It was a victory for us,and I am glad to see the more of it.
3. 2016-04-17 04:15  
yep

campaign to get the law changed

campaign legally and win the change

4. 2016-04-19 00:10  
I am not surprised but sad for them.
5. 2016-04-19 06:15  
Come to think of it, I can't marry my favorite bath towel. I hate the UK. So evil and backward.


6. 2016-04-19 09:35  
I'm not the least bit surprised by this verdict. Yes, it's unfortunate that it had to be the outcome, but it IS to be expected coming from super-traditionalist China.
7. 2016-04-20 14:00  
China need to be part of the new world, some of the traditions in china is like living 300 years ago.
8. 2016-04-20 19:35  
It is not just China. Even in the west, countries that recognise same sex marriages are still few and far between. So it is not a fight for the Chinese alone.

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