Gay Marriage

Lesbian couple in Guangzhou wear wedding dresses in public to declare their love

Posted: 04/19/2013 7:00 am

A lesbian couple walked down Guangzhou’s Beijing Road on Wednesday wearing wedding dresses and bearing a sign asking onlookers to wish them happiness, Yangcheng Evening News reports. The couple, Xiao Yang and Xiaoxiao were defiant in the face of criticism from some members of the public.

The couple ask members of the public to wish them happiness

The couple emerged at around 11 a.m. when Beijing Road is at its busiest. They started caressing each other’s hair and smooching. Having drawn much attention, Xiao Yang stated loudly: “As of today, this woman is my wife and I am her wife. We are in love, so wish us luck as you would any couple.”

The couple were criticized to their faces by some straight couples and older people but they were defiant, saying: “Wouldn’t you let a woman love another woman?”

Other members of the public applauded and cheered.

When interviewed by the paper, Xiao Yang cited as her hero Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Iceland’s lesbian prime minister who was recently in Beijing. Xiao Yang said the couple’s goal was to inspire other gay people and win respect from the general public.

Gay marriage is not legally recognized in China but this does not stop some couples from holding wedding ceremonies.

Tagged: GayGay MarriageGuangzhoulesbianLGBTsame-sex marriage

Lesbian couple in Guangzhou turned away at marriage registry, holds ceremony anyway

Posted: 02/28/2013 9:20 am

You know same-sex marriage is becoming more mainstream when even Republicans are supporting it, but it still might be a while before it’s legally recognized in China.

A lesbian couple in Guangzhou decided to test the system themselves on Tuesday (February 26) when Jiu Jiu and A Ya appeared at the Civil Affairs Bureau in Haizhu District.

The receptionist gave them a marriage registration form and asked them to fill it out. One side was for the groom, the other for the bride. Once the clerk realized there were two women in front of her, she pulled the form away and said, “Only one man and one woman can get married, based on the marriage law.” Jiu Jiu and A Ya left in disappointment, but decided to hold a ceremony anyway, only a few weeks after another same-sex wedding ceremony in Shenzhen.

There is an extremely small – but growing – number of people in China who are pushing for marriage equality. A Qiang, the executive of a homosexual friends and relatives group, wrote a 600-word letter on behalf of the group to deputies of China’s National People’s Congress on February 25 calling for equal rights. The purpose was to raise awareness of the issue and show why allowing same-sex marriage is good for society.

A Qiang argued some same-sex couples in China have been together for 10 years or more, look after each other and love each other, but lack marriage benefits. He said issues like healthcare, property inheritance, housing, and more is all affected by denying same-sex marriage. He said the answer is full legalization.

This is the second case of a same-sex marriage being thwarted just this week. Another group tried to do the same in Beijing on Monday, but were turned away.

Tagged: GayGay MarriageGuangzhoulesbianLGBTsame-sex marriage

Shenzhen hosts China’s first public wedding between two women

Posted: 01/7/2013 7:00 am

The couple pour champagne together

January 4, 2013 was an auspicious day on which to get married in China, according to the China Daily. The date sounds similar to “love you forever” in Chinese.

Among the couples who got married were a 36-year-old woman named Dongdong and 30-year-old woman named Qiqi (both names are aliases), a lesbian couple in Shenzhen, China Daily reports (via the Southern Metropolis Daily). By taking vows, the couple became the first lesbian couple to hold a public wedding in Mainland China.

Although homosexual marriages cannot be legally certified in Mainland China, both couples received parental approval after initially encountering opposition: “Whether my child marries a man or a woman, she is still my daughter and I can think that the marriage brings me another daughter, which is also a source of happiness,” said Dongdong’s mother.

Taiwan is closer than Mainland China to legalizing gay marriage, as Shanghaiist reported last week. In October, tens of thousands of Taiwanese took to the streets of Taipei for the city’s 10th annual gay pride parade.

It seems one of them wore a suit on her wedding day.

Last month, Gay Star News reported that Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice would commission studies into attitudes towards same-sex marriage in Asian cultures as part of research looking into legalizing gay marriage.

In 2011, New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan warned that legalizing gay marriage would turn New Yorkers Asian. If you feel like a laugh, you can check out his reasoning, or lack thereof, here.

Tagged: Gay MarriagelesbianNew YorkShenzhenTaiwan

Gay couple announce engagement in Dongguan on Chinese Valentine’s Day

Posted: 08/23/2012 11:35 am

A gay couple are holding an engagement party in Dongguan today, according to Southern Metropolis Daily.

On August 14, a Sina Weibo user named Qiang Shao announced that he would hold an engagement party in a gay bar in Dongguan on Chinese Valentine’s Day, which is today. The wedding between Qiang and his partner Zhong Shao was supposed to take place last year but was postponed after his father died, said the microblogger.

Already retweeted 226 times, the microblog post has been mostly met with messages of support. Some microbloggers in Dongguan even offered to help organize the engagement party.

Responses included: “The people of Chongqing wholeheartedly congratulate you,” from one female microblogger; “What you’re doing requires great courage, go for it,” from another; and, “Your happiness is only just beginning,” from another.

They are the first couple in Dongguan to publicly announce an engagement, according to the paper. However, in spite of the goodwill messages, and Qiang’s assertion that “love can conquer everything,” gays cannot yet legally marry in China. Taiwan, however, is considerably more tolerant.

Homosexuality is still widely frowned upon in China. The term Tongqi was coined to describe a women who is married to a closet homosexual.