A Chinese man from the central province of Hunan is challenging local officials in China to allow him to marry his male partner. He has filed a lawsuit against the government for preventing him from filing an application to marry. This has been considered as a major test case for LGBT rights in China.
26-year-old Sun Wenlin who hails from Changsha filed a complaint against the Changsa Furong District Civil Affairs Bureau earlier this month. The man argues that the law of their land does not specifically say marriage is between male and female but between husband and wife. The local authorities declined the two to get married, and so the challenge began.
Mr. Sun told the Wall Street Journal's China Real Time blog, "We just hope that we can legally become each other's family in our own country someday in our lifetime. Our most basic desires and rights have been denied, and this is very difficult to vindicate. I feel very angry,"
He also explained that he does not think it means only a heterosexual man and woman can get married and that in terms of relationship, two people who have no blood ties can form a family. The complaint touches on the concept that a person can identify as a husband or a wife without reference to their gender.
Meanwhile, the court has yet to accept the case. Furong District People's Court district in Changsha stated that they will come out with a result. By the law the court has until the 23rd of December to respond. Sun Wenlin said he will appeal to the Changsha Intermediate People's Court if the lower court does not accept his argument.
Homosexuality was considered to be crime in the Middle Kingdom and during 2001 it was classified as a mental illness. The Gay and Lesbian Campus Association in China made a study last year and found out that out of 31 psychology textbooks that have been published in China since 2001, only 13 of them classified homosexuality as a mental disorder.
It isn't clear whether Sun Wenlin's case is a first gay marriage case in China. He remains optimistic and believes that Chinese society will change because of their actions.
