Voice of America (VOA) announced Wednesday that a 20-something gay man has filed a lawsuit against a civil affairs bureau in Hunan province. “Sun Wenlin, 26, filed a lawsuit December 16 against the Furong district civil affairs bureau in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province in central China. His lawsuit challenged the bureau’s refusal to allow the couple — his partner is 36 years old — to register their marriage.”
The move comes at a time when many in the Chinese LGBTQ community are taking their first tentative steps out of the closet. While homosexuality was decriminalized in 2001, many still fear they may be ostracized from family, friends and society. It is estimated that there are approximately 13 million gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning Chinese.
Chinese law, while specifically stating that a marriage is between a husband and a spouse, does not specify gender. Sun appears optimistic that this loophole may create a wider opening for the legal rights of gay people. “I think from a legal point of view, we should be successful,” Sun said. “Our marriage law says there is the freedom to marry and gender equality. These words can be applied to same-sex marriage.”
“In China, courts often reject politically sensitive cases, so the fact that the lawsuit is accepted signals some official willingness to address discrimination against LGBT people, which is encouraging,” Maya Wang, a China researcher at the New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch, told Reuters.
While there is no precedent for same-sex marriage, many argue that it is quite conceivable that the court will issue a favorable ruling. The Communist party, which rules over every aspect of modern Chinese society, has traditionally held progressive views on the role of women and equal rights, provided they conform to the dominant political, economic and social tenets of Communism.
The ruling is expected within six months and many believe that should the court legalize same-sex marriage, the resulting tourism would provide many economic benefits to the country and, specifically, to a region widely considered the most beautiful of the Chinese provinces.
