China: Gay couple marry despite warnings
The couple threw a wedding ceremony in Beijing a day after the US Supreme Court legalised same-sex marriage, despite police warnings.
Although not recognised under Chinese law, Ling Jueding, 34, and Gino, 27, decided they wanted to celebrate their love for each other by hosting the ceremony in front of friends and family – despite severe police warnings and a lack of support from the local community.
The couple first met in 2013 at an event held by Ling’s company, the developer of a gay social networking app.
“Gino let me see hope for the future, and we just met at a right time,” Ling said, when describing his relationship with his partner.
The day before their wedding, the couple received a message from police saying that they couldn’t hold the ceremony at the restaurant they’d booked.
After getting refused by ten other places, a private venue accepted them.
The couple said that they plan to go to America to get their official marriage licenses. While their unions won’t be recognised in their home country of China, the couple can claim each other as spouses when they’re in the United States and “be a real family for then”.
Earlier this month, a lesbian couple in China held a wedding ceremony, with a view to pushing for legal recognition of same-sex relationships in the country.
Li Tingting and Teresa Xu, married less than a week after the US Supreme Court ruled that all couples, gay or straight, have a constitutional right to marry.
