Recently, lesbian couples from Beijing and Guangzhou went to the marriage registration office but were rejected. Under China’s jurisdiction, marriage laws recognize only opposite sex couples as eligible for a marital union.

Same-sex marriage is about the distribution of rights and interests

A-Qiang, executive chairman of non-governmental organization PFLAG (Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) China, said that the aim of most homosexual couples going to the marriage registration office is to show their desire to be joined in marriage to the government. They are optimistic about the future legalization of gay marriage.

In his opinion, marriage is related to many different interests, involving all aspects of gay rights and social identity. At present, more and more same-sex partners avow their relationship. Nevertheless, these people may still face the problems of division of common property, lawful adoptive children and signing for any operations (in case of the victim partner being incapacitated to do so).

Parents call for revision of the marriage law

In order to realize same-sex couple marriage rights, hundreds of gay parents have now sent a letter to the National People's Congress (NPC) to call for a revision of the marriage law before the National People's Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

The near 600-words letter was written by A-Qiang, representing the voices of hundreds of gay parents. The letter mentioned that gay men accounted for about 3% to 5% of the total population now. According to the calculations, there are around 60 million homosexuals in China at this moment. They are affected in different ways and to different degrees in the areas of child adoption, inheritance of property, buying a house and so on.

A-Qiang expresses that they will communicate to the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress and desire a representative of the NPC and CPPCC proposals to amend the marriage law and legalize gay marriage.