Chinese judge rules against same-sex marriage in landmark case

China’s first same-sex marriage related lawsuit has taken place, where the court has ruled against a gay couple’s appeal to become each other’s husbands.

The case took place at Sun Wenlin, 27, and Hu Mingliang, 37 are from Changsha, a city in Hunan Province in central China.

The case was in response to Wenlin and Mingliang’s attempt at registering their proposed union with a Civil Affairs Bureau in 2015. The couple were refused on the grounds that marriage should be between a man and a woman, and so the couple decided to take legal action.

After meeting online two years ago, the couple had already decided to spend their lives together after being together for one.

China have a long way to go in terms of LGBTQ equality. Homosexuality was only legalised in 1997, and it was then only removed from the China’s psychiatric mental health disorder list 15 years ago.

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According to Global Times, just a month ago television groups issued new guidelines against the promotion of homosexuality, or “uncommon sexual relationships and sexual behaviors” in media.

However, The couple did not let the slow progress of the mainstream determine their decision to attempt to marry, and decided to continue their pursuit of marriage. They received support from a number of residents though, where the case was argued in “a packed courtroom” and some supporters had been queueing outside the court since 7:30am.

Ultimately, the verdict was to dismiss the case, on the same grounds that their initial attempt to join hands was dismissed.

Despite the disappointing outcome, the couple are focussing on the main positive aspect of this ordeal, which is that the case was recognised in court at all.

“I was not so concerned about the outcome of the case, the fact we made it to court shows there is progress,” says Sun Wenlin.

That fact that the suit was acknowledged is significant in that it gives hope that the progress of LGBTQ issues in China are being taken seriously, so this is a key moment in that sense.

The couple will continue to fight for their rights, and will appeal their case.

“I am very upset,” Sun Wenbin told ITV News outside the court. “But I still hope that we will be married while we are still alive.”

Words: Georgios Hadjimichael

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