China's first lawsuit on same-sex marriage rights has been accepted by a local court in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province, marking a milestone for LGBT rights.
Plaintiff Sun Wenlin (pseudonym), a gay man, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the court has accepted his suit against a civil affairs bureau in Changsha's Furong district for not accepting his marriage registration application.
Sun filed the case on December 16 after his marriage registration application was turned down by an official who said that only "one man and one woman" can be registered as married.
Sun claimed that local police also visited his home after he filed the case, which has gained a high profile and has been hailed by many LGBT activists online. "The officer kept emphasizing that it is important to have a child to carry on one's family name, but I can't abide by people imposing their values on me," Sun added.
"The original text of the Marriage Law does not say one man and one woman, but a husband and a wife. I personally believe that this term refers not only to heterosexual couples but also to same-sex couples," he told the Global Times in a previous interview.
The court is expected to hand down a ruling on the case within six months.
