Gay husband committed no fraud: court

A local court in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, rejected a lawsuit brought by the parents of a woman who committed suicide after discovering her husband is gay, the Chengdu Business Daily reported Monday.

The parents of 31-year-old Luo Hongling, a teacher of the Chongqing-based Sichuan Foreign Studies University who jumped to her death from a building in June last year, sued their only daughter's gay husband, surnamed Cheng, for fraud.

They said Cheng failed to fulfill his legal obligations as a spouse and asked for 630,000 yuan ($101,119) in compensation.

The parents believed their daughter's death was caused by Cheng, and claimed that he hid his sexual orientation prior to getting married.

The couple had been married only half a year, and had not filed for divorce prior to Luo's death.

Cheng's lawyer said his client's behavior did not result in his wife's death, and the couple's marriage conformed to related laws.

Cheng has already compensated his former in-laws 32,000 yuan.

The court rejected the fraud claim by Luo's parents saying that knowledge of Cheng's sexual orientation did not affect the legitimacy of their voluntary marriage registration.

Marriage laws do not prohibit homosexuals from entering heterosexual marriages, although gay marriages are banned in the country.

Luo had other options to deal with her mental anguish, the district court said in the ruling.

Li Yinhe, a renowned sexologist and former expert with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the court's ruling is a message to homosexuals who enter fake marriages.

"Legislation to some degree might help prevent these kinds of marriages," Li suggested Monday.

Some 16 million Chinese spouses have unwittingly married homosexuals, said Li.

A volunteer surnamed Huang from the Beijing-based gay and lesbian rights NGO Aibai Culture and Education Center told the Global Times Monday that Cheng should not have cheated his wife and social pressures to conform and produce offspring likely forced him into the marriage.

Luo's parents said they will appeal to the Chengdu Intermediate People's Court.